SHAPING LAND-USE PRACTICES AND SUPPLY CHAINS THROUGH COMMODITY CERTIFICATION: THE EXPERIENCE OF THE RAINFOREST ALLIANCE Jeffrey Milder, Rainforest Alliance GEF/STAP Mainstreaming Biodiversity Workshop October 2, 2013 2013 Rainforest Alliance
RAINFOREST ALLIANCE S MAINSTREAMING WORK Mission: The Rainforest Alliance works to conserve biodiversity and ensure sustainable livelihoods by transforming land-use practices, business practices and consumer behavior. 2
RAINFOREST ALLIANCE CERTIFIED AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS
THE ANATOMY OF CERTIFICATION AS A BIODIVERSITY MAINSTREAMING STRATEGY STANDARDS & CERTIFICATION SYSTEM SUSTAINABILITY STANDARDS COMPLIANCE VERIFICATION PROCESSES CERTIFICATION: initiatives to verify that business entities (e.g., farms and firms) adhere to pre-defined environmental and social welfare standards VALUE CHAIN ENGAGEMENT Producer training, technical assistance, and support (SUPPLY SIDE) Traceability, auditor accreditation, etc. ECO-LABELLING and other communication of sustainability credentials to differentiate certified products in the marketplace Marketing, corporate partnerships, consumer awareness (DEMAND SIDE) 4
HOW IS CERTIFICATION HYPOTHESIZED TO DELIVER CONSERVATION BENEFITS? INPUTS, STRATEGIES & ACTIVITIES STANDARD SETTING BROADER TRANSFORMATION OF HUMAN SYSTEMS Transform markets Incorporate into public policy Shift consumer behavior Realizing benefits from broader transformation BROADER TRANSFORMATION OF LAND & ECOSYSTEM DYNAMICS Arrest tropical deforestation Scale up ecologically based agriculture Improve cons. value of ag. landscapes MARKET & STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT Scaling up local benefits FARM & LANDSCAPE SCALE RESULTS TRAINING & SUPPORT TO ENCOURAGE UPTAKE CERTIFICATION ADOPTION OF STANDARDS (SCALE & REACH) ADOPTION OF BMPs (short-term outcomes) LOCAL & PROXIMATE CONSERVATION BENEFITS (intermediateterm outcomes) BROADER & INDIRECT CONSERVATION BENEFITS (long-term impacts) 5
WHAT ASPECTS OF BIODIVERSITY & ECOSYSTEM SERVICES ARE ADDRESSED? SAN/RA Agriculture Theory of Change (biodiversity component) 6
WHAT ASPECTS OF BIODIVERSITY & ECOSYSTEM SERVICES ARE ADDRESSED? 7
WHAT ASPECTS OF BIODIVERSITY & ECOSYSTEM SERVICES ARE ADDRESSED? 8
RAINFOREST ALLIANCE S GEF-SUPPORTED MAINSTREAMING WORK UNDP-GEF Biodiversity Conservation in Coffee project: 2006-13 in six Latin American countries. UNEP-GEF Greening the Cocoa Industry project: 2011-2016 in 10 leading cocoa-producing countries. World Bank-GEF Biodiversity and Agricultural Commodities Program (BACP) grant to demonstrate biodiversity friendly cocoa intensification in South Sulawesi, Indonesia 9
KEY SUCCESS: MARKET & FARMER ACCEPTANCE OF THE CERTIFICATION MODEL Biodiversity Conservation in Coffee supported +434% in RAcertified coffee land area and +367% in RA-certified coffee volume Greening the Cocoa Industry has already exceeded project targets, with nearly 400,000 Mt of certified cocoa produced on >625,000 ha by >170,000 farmers Strong leverage of investment and field capacity from value chain actors (companies & traders) 10
MORE BROADLY: CERTIFICATION GOING MAINSTREAM IN KEY TROPICAL CROP SECTORS Commodity Rainforest Alliance certified (2013) All certifications (Potts et al. 2010) Bananas 15% of export crop 20% of export crop Coffee 4.6% 17% Cocoa 10.2% Outdated estimate Tea 11.2% Outdated estimate Managed forests 4% 18% Area under Rainforest Alliance certification Land planted to Certified Sustainable Palm Oil 11
KEY SUCCESS: ON-THE-GROUND BIODIVERSITY BENEFITS Certified coffee farms vs. alternate local land uses: Contribute significantly more to forest-specialist bird dispersal (El Salvador) 1 Foster significantly higher migratory bird survival rates (El Salvador) 1 Score significantly higher on a variety of water quality and aquatic and riparian habitat parameters (Colombia) 2 Contain significantly higher soil arthropod species richness (Colombia) 2 Sources: 1 Komar O. 2012. Are Rainforest Alliance certified coffee plantations bird-friendly? SalvaNatura Fundacion Ecologica, San Salvador. 2 12 Hughell, D. and D. Newsom. 2013. Impacts of Rainforest Alliance certification on coffee farms in Colombia. Rainforest Alliance, New York.
KEY SUCCESS: ON-THE-GROUND PRODUCTIVITY AND LIVELIHOOD BENEFITS Productivity: coffee farms in Colombia Productivity, gross revenue, and net revenue: cocoa farms in Côte d Ivoire p < 0.05 for Santander state comparisons p < 0.05 for all comparisons Sources: Colombia: Hughell, D. and D. Newsom. 2013. Impacts of Rainforest Alliance certification on coffee farms in Colombia. Rainforest Alliance, New York. Côte d Ivoire: Committee on Sustainability Assessment. 2012. COSA survey of Rainforest Alliance certified farms. 13
KEY CHALLENGE / NEED / OPPORTUNITY: FOCUS ON QUALITY, NOT JUST SCALE 14
KEY CHALLENGE / NEED / OPPORTUNITY: LINK CERTIFICATION TO COMPLEMENTARY STRATEGIES Cocoa certification as part of a landscape approach in Bia-Juabeso, Ghana 15
KEY CHALLENGE / NEED / OPPORTUNITY: COLLABORATE & SYSTEMATIZE TO GENERATE A ROBUST EVIDENCE BASE The Rainforest Alliance s approach to measuring results 16
THANK YOU 17