IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/wdevel/v165y2023ics0305750x23000050.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

With and beyond sustainability certification: Exploring inclusive business and solidarity economy strategies in Peru and Switzerland

Author

Listed:
  • Oberlack, Christoph
  • Blare, Trent
  • Zambrino, Luca
  • Bruelisauer, Samuel
  • Solar, Jimena
  • Villar, Gesabel
  • Thomas, Evert
  • Ramírez, Marleni

Abstract

Certification of sustainability standards is an important governance strategy aimed at enhancing the human well-being outcomes of agri-food value chains. While the impacts of certification on well-being are positive for some farmers under certain conditions, they are insignificant or adverse for others. Many barriers can impede positive impacts of certification on well-being. Alternative or complementary strategies such as inclusive business and solidarity economy may challenge these barriers. However, since certification, inclusive business and solidarity economy strategies are studied in isolation, their precise similarities and differences, their interplay and their relative efficacy and limitations remain elusive. Therefore, this paper explores to what extent and how inclusive business and solidarity economy strategies may overcome the persistent governance and economic barriers that limit well-being impacts of certification. We explore four purposively selected cases of inclusive business and solidarity economy strategies from the cacao value chains connecting Peru and Switzerland. Results show that value chain actors combine different specific elements of the three strategies (certification, inclusiveness and solidarity) into portfolios of instruments, which reflect their value chain role and organizational missions. These instrument portfolios may address some of the barriers of certification schemes, but they come with their own challenges and limitations. We conclude that promising future research may use comparative research designs to disentangle specific instruments of inclusiveness, solidarity, and certification; to build typologies of instrument portfolios; to understand their interaction with systemic change in markets and land-use systems; and to specify the conditions under which value chain actors can use specific instruments to improve well-being outcomes of agri-food value chains.

Suggested Citation

  • Oberlack, Christoph & Blare, Trent & Zambrino, Luca & Bruelisauer, Samuel & Solar, Jimena & Villar, Gesabel & Thomas, Evert & Ramírez, Marleni, 2023. "With and beyond sustainability certification: Exploring inclusive business and solidarity economy strategies in Peru and Switzerland," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:165:y:2023:i:c:s0305750x23000050
    DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2023.106187
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X23000050
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.worlddev.2023.106187?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. repec:oup:apecpp:v:37:y:2015:i:1:p:86-106 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Bacon, Christopher M., 2010. "Who decides what is fair in fair trade? The agri-environmental governance of standards, access, and price," Center for Global, International and Regional Studies, Working Paper Series qt8px4f62v, Center for Global, International and Regional Studies, UC Santa Cruz.
    3. Eric F. Lambin & Holly K. Gibbs & Robert Heilmayr & Kimberly M. Carlson & Leonardo C. Fleck & Rachael D. Garrett & Yann le Polain de Waroux & Constance L. McDermott & David McLaughlin & Peter Newton &, 2018. "The role of supply-chain initiatives in reducing deforestation," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 8(2), pages 109-116, February.
    4. Janina Grabs & Sophia Louise Carodenuto, 2021. "Traders as sustainability governance actors in global food supply chains: A research agenda," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(2), pages 1314-1332, February.
    5. Jaqueline Garcia-Yi, 2014. "Organic coffee certification in Peru as an alternative development-oriented drug control policy," International Journal of Development Issues, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 13(1), pages 72-92, April.
    6. Giuliani, Elisa & Ciravegna, Luciano & Vezzulli, Andrea & Kilian, Bernard, 2017. "Decoupling Standards from Practice: The Impact of In-House Certifications on Coffee Farms’ Environmental and Social Conduct," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 294-314.
    7. Jorge Sellare & Eva‐Marie Meemken & Christophe Kouamé & Matin Qaim, 2020. "Do Sustainability Standards Benefit Smallholder Farmers Also When Accounting For Cooperative Effects? Evidence from Côte d'Ivoire," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 102(2), pages 681-695, March.
    8. Matthys, Marie-Luise & Acharya, Sushant & Khatri, Sanjaya, 2021. "“Before cardamom, we used to face hardship”: Analyzing agricultural commercialization effects in Nepal through a local concept of the Good Life," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    9. Ellen Verhofstadt & Miet Maertens, 2015. "Can Agricultural Cooperatives Reduce Poverty? Heterogeneous Impact of Cooperative Membership on Farmers' Welfare in Rwanda," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 37(1), pages 86-106.
    10. Chamberlain, Wytske & Anseeuw, Ward, 2019. "Inclusive businesses in agriculture: Defining the concept and its complex and evolving partnership structures in the field," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 308-322.
    11. Cooper, G.S. & Shankar, B. & Rich, K.M. & Ratna, N.N. & Alam, M.J. & Singh, N. & Kadiyala, S., 2021. "Can fruit and vegetable aggregation systems better balance improved producer livelihoods with more equitable distribution?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    12. Eva-Marie Meemken & Jorge Sellare & Christophe N. Kouame & Matin Qaim, 2019. "Effects of Fairtrade on the livelihoods of poor rural workers," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 2(7), pages 635-642, July.
    13. Tannis Thorlakson, 2018. "A move beyond sustainability certification: The evolution of the chocolate industry's sustainable sourcing practices," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(8), pages 1653-1665, December.
    14. Benjamin Neimark & Sarah Osterhoudt & Hayley Alter & Adrian Gradinar, 2019. "A new sustainability model for measuring changes in power and access in global commodity chains: through a smallholder lens," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 5(1), pages 1-11, December.
    15. Johnson, Adrienne, 2022. "The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) and transnational hybrid governance in Ecuador’s palm oil industry," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    16. Meemken, Eva-Marie, 2021. "Large farms, large benefits? Sustainability certification among family farms and agro-industrial producers in Peru," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    17. Thomas Dietz & Andrea Estrella Chong & Janina Grabs & Bernard Kilian, 2020. "How Effective is Multiple Certification in Improving the Economic Conditions of Smallholder Farmers? Evidence from an Impact Evaluation in Colombia’s Coffee Belt," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(6), pages 1141-1160, June.
    18. Robert Home & Mareike Weiner & Christian Schader, 2021. "Smart Mixes in International Supply Chains: A Definition and Analytical Tool, Illustrated with the Example of Organic Imports into Switzerland," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-20, September.
    19. Sara Vicari, 2014. "The Co‐Operative As Institution For Human Development: The Case Study Of Coppalj, A Primary Co‐Operative In Brazil," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(5), pages 683-700, July.
    20. Y. R. Waarts & V. Janssen & R. Aryeetey & D. Onduru & D. Heriyanto & S. Tin Aprillya & A. N’Guessan & L. Courbois & D. Bakker & V. J. Ingram, 2021. "Multiple pathways towards achieving a living income for different types of smallholder tree-crop commodity farmers," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 13(6), pages 1467-1496, December.
    21. Fischer, Richard & Tamayo Cordero, Fabian & Ojeda Luna, Tatiana & Ferrer Velasco, Rubén & DeDecker, Maria & Torres, Bolier & Giessen, Lukas & Günter, Sven, 2021. "Interplay of governance elements and their effects on deforestation in tropical landscapes: Quantitative insights from Ecuador," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    22. Thomas Dietz & Janina Grabs & Andrea Estrella Chong, 2021. "Mainstreamed voluntary sustainability standards and their effectiveness: Evidence from the Honduran coffee sector," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 15(2), pages 333-355, April.
    23. Oya, Carlos & Schaefer, Florian & Skalidou, Dafni, 2018. "The effectiveness of agricultural certification in developing countries: A systematic review," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 282-312.
    24. Jennifer Clapp, 2019. "The rise of financial investment and common ownership in global agrifood firms," Review of International Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(4), pages 604-629, July.
    25. Simon L. Bager & Eric F. Lambin, 2020. "Sustainability strategies by companies in the global coffee sector," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(8), pages 3555-3570, December.
    26. Maria Belen Roldan & Ingrid Fromm & Robert Aidoo, 2013. "From Producers to Export Markets: The Case of the Cocoa Value Chain in Ghana," Journal of African Development, African Finance and Economic Association (AFEA), vol. 15(2), pages 121-138.
    27. Gardner, T.A. & Benzie, M. & Börner, J. & Dawkins, E. & Fick, S. & Garrett, R. & Godar, J. & Grimard, A. & Lake, S. & Larsen, R.K. & Mardas, N. & McDermott, C.L. & Meyfroidt, P. & Osbeck, M. & Persson, 2019. "Transparency and sustainability in global commodity supply chains," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 163-177.
    28. Watts, John D. & Pasaribu, Katryn & Irawan, Silvia & Tacconi, Luca & Martanila, Heni & Wiratama, Cokorda Gde Wisnu & Musthofa, Fauzan Kemal & Sugiarto, Bernadinus Steni & Manvi, Utami Putri, 2021. "Challenges faced by smallholders in achieving sustainable palm oil certification in Indonesia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    29. Janina Grabs & Stefano Ponte, 2019. "The evolution of power in the global coffee value chain and production network," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 19(4), pages 803-828.
    30. Bennett, Elizabeth A., 2017. "Who Governs Socially-Oriented Voluntary Sustainability Standards? Not the Producers of Certified Products," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 53-69.
    31. Jaqueline Garcia-Yi, 2014. "Organic coffee certification in Peru as an alternative development-oriented drug control policy," International Journal of Development Issues, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 13(1), pages 72-92, April.
    32. Janina Grabs, 2020. "Assessing the institutionalization of private sustainability governance in a changing coffee sector," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 14(2), pages 362-387, April.
    33. Gerrie W. J. Ven & Anne Valença & Wytze Marinus & Ilse Jager & Katrien K. E. Descheemaeker & Willem Hekman & Beyene Teklu Mellisse & Frederick Baijukya & Mwantumu Omari & Ken E. Giller, 2021. "Living income benchmarking of rural households in low-income countries," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 13(3), pages 729-749, June.
    34. Schilling-Vacaflor, Almut & Lenschow, Andrea & Challies, Edward & Cotta, Benedetta & Newig, Jens, 2021. "Contextualizing certification and auditing: Soy certification and access of local communities to land and water in Brazil," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    35. Schouten, Greetje & Bitzer, Verena, 2015. "The emergence of Southern standards in agricultural value chains: A new trend in sustainability governance?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 175-184.
    36. Blekking, Jordan & Gatti, Nicolas & Waldman, Kurt & Evans, Tom & Baylis, Kathy, 2021. "The benefits and limitations of agricultural input cooperatives in Zambia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    37. Pablo Pacheco & George Schoneveld & Ahmad Dermawan & Heru Komarudin & Marcel Djama, 2020. "Governing sustainable palm oil supply: Disconnects, complementarities, and antagonisms between state regulations and private standards," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 14(3), pages 568-598, July.
    38. van Rijsbergen, Bart & Elbers, Willem & Ruben, Ruerd & Njuguna, Samuel N., 2016. "The Ambivalent Impact of Coffee Certification on Farmers’ Welfare: A Matched Panel Approach for Cooperatives in Central Kenya," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 277-292.
    39. Bernard, Tanguy & Spielman, David J., 2009. "Reaching the rural poor through rural producer organizations? A study of agricultural marketing cooperatives in Ethiopia," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(1), pages 60-69, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Karla Rubio‐Jovel, 2023. "The voluntary sustainability standards and their contribution towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals: A systematic review on the coffee sector," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 35(6), pages 1013-1052, August.
    2. Janina Grabs & Rachael D. Garrett, 2023. "Goal-Based Private Sustainability Governance and Its Paradoxes in the Indonesian Palm Oil Sector," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 188(3), pages 467-507, December.
    3. Sellare, Jorge & Meemken, Eva-Marie & Qaim, Matin, 2020. "Fairtrade, Agrochemical Input Use, and Effects on Human Health and the Environment," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    4. Boonaert, Eva & Maertens, Miet, 2023. "Voluntary sustainability standards and farmer welfare: The pathways to success?," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    5. Janina Grabs & Sophia Louise Carodenuto, 2021. "Traders as sustainability governance actors in global food supply chains: A research agenda," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(2), pages 1314-1332, February.
    6. Tennhardt, Lina & Lazzarini, Gianna & Weisshaidinger, Rainer & Schader, Christian, 2022. "Do environmentally-friendly cocoa farms yield social and economic co-benefits?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 197(C).
    7. Köhler, Susanne & Bager, Simon & Pizzol, Massimo, 2022. "Sustainability standards and blockchain in agro-food supply chains: Synergies and conflicts," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 185(C).
    8. Jorge Sellare & Eva‐Marie Meemken & Christophe Kouamé & Matin Qaim, 2020. "Do Sustainability Standards Benefit Smallholder Farmers Also When Accounting For Cooperative Effects? Evidence from Côte d'Ivoire," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 102(2), pages 681-695, March.
    9. Anja Garbely & Elias Steiner, 2023. "Understanding compliance with voluntary sustainability standards: a machine learning approach," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(10), pages 11209-11239, October.
    10. Meemken, Eva-Marie, 2021. "Large farms, large benefits? Sustainability certification among family farms and agro-industrial producers in Peru," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    11. Aniseh S. Bro & Daniel C. Clay & David L. Ortega & Maria C. Lopez, 2019. "Determinants of adoption of sustainable production practices among smallholder coffee producers in Nicaragua," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 21(2), pages 895-915, April.
    12. Johnson, Adrienne, 2022. "The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) and transnational hybrid governance in Ecuador’s palm oil industry," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    13. Dietz, Thomas & Biber-Freudenberger, Lisa & Deal, Laura & Börner, Jan, 2022. "Is private sustainability governance a myth? Evaluating major sustainability certifications in primary production: A mixed methods meta-study," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 201(C).
    14. de Vos, Rosanne E. & Suwarno, Aritta & Slingerland, Maja & van der Meer, Peter J. & Lucey, Jennifer M., 2023. "Pre-certification conditions of independent oil palm smallholders in Indonesia. Assessing prospects for RSPO certification," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    15. Ranjit Gupta & Cristian Mejia & Shuan Sadreghazi & Yuki Sano & Leticia Sarmento Dos Muchangos & Tomonori Sekiguchi & Hiromi Nakamura & Yuya Kajikawa, 2024. "Traders as ecosystem orchestrators for sustainable foods supply chain transformation," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(5), pages 4024-4038, July.
    16. Anne Mook & Christine Overdevest, 2021. "What drives market construction for fair trade, organic, and GlobalGAP certification in the global citrus value chain? Evidence at the importer level in the Netherlands and the United States," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(7), pages 2996-3008, November.
    17. Vincent Canwat, 2023. "Value chains and sustainable development: A perspective of sustainable coffee value chains in East Africa," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(2), pages 668-679, April.
    18. Simon L. Bager & Eric F. Lambin, 2020. "Sustainability strategies by companies in the global coffee sector," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(8), pages 3555-3570, December.
    19. Claudia Coral & Dagmar Mithöfer, 2023. "Contemporary narratives about asymmetries in responsibility in global agri-food value chains: the case of the Ecuadorian stakeholders in the banana value chain," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 40(3), pages 1019-1038, September.
    20. Gallemore, Caleb & Jespersen, Kristjan & Olmsted, Paige, 2022. "Harnessing relational values for global value chain sustainability: Reframing the roundtable on sustainable palm oil's offset mechanism to support smallholders," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:165:y:2023:i:c:s0305750x23000050. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/worlddev .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.