Water, sanitation and hygiene: three essential ingredients to resilient agriculture supply chains

Some of corporations' most challenging water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) issues lie within their supply chains, particularly in agriculture. Our booklet helps provide a starting point for action, explaining why WASH management should already be part of business as usual and offering the first practical steps companies can take to improve access to WASH in their supply chains.  

Why do we need the booklet?

Companies face difficult decisions every day about where they should invest their time and money to help ensure responsible business growth. Our booklet helps provide a starting point for company action and investment in WASH provision, and explains why WASH management should already be business as usual and integrated into existing processes. 

What is the booklet and who is it for?

The booklet is valuable for sustainability professionals who are responsible for managing environmental and social issues and for embedding them in existing management processes and procedures. It helps build awareness of why companies should act on WASH, and touches on initial steps companies can take to practically approach WASH in supply chains, within the broader context of being water stewards. Version 2.0 of the Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) Standard acknowledged the importance of WASH. The Standard can therefore provide a useful framework for considering a business's practical WASH action. 

What can you do?

You can lead by example and champion the integration of WASH into your company's corporate water stewardship strategy. Use the AWS Standard to help structure your thinking about WASH management at the local level. You can engage with a third-party provider if you need support, and learn from others via global initiatives such as WASH4Work.

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