Are the metrics that companies use effective for monitoring supply chain sustainability? A closer look at cocoa and rice

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cg.authorship.typesCGIAR multi-centreen_US
cg.contributor.affiliationInternational Water Management Instituteen_US
cg.contributor.affiliationHumboldt Universitat zu Berlinen_US
cg.contributor.affiliationInternational Center for Tropical Agricultureen_US
cg.contributor.affiliationBioversity Internationalen_US
cg.contributor.donorEuropean Unionen_US
cg.contributor.donorInternational Fund for Agricultural Developmenten_US
cg.contributor.donorCGIAR Trust Funden_US
cg.contributor.initiativeAgroecologyen_US
cg.creator.identifierSarah K. Jones: 0000-0002-9422-5563en_US
cg.creator.identifierANDREA CECILIA SANCHEZ BOGADO: 0000-0003-4549-6970en_US
cg.creator.identifierThai Minh: 0000-0002-8345-6825en_US
cg.creator.identifierJonathan Mockshell: 0000-0003-1990-6657en_US
cg.creator.identifierJonathan Steinke: 0000-0001-5742-702Xen_US
cg.creator.identifierJose Sanchez-Choy: 0000-0003-3376-590Xen_US
cg.creator.identifierYovita Ivanova: 0000-0003-2079-6117en_US
cg.identifier.iwmilibraryH052917en_US
cg.subject.actionAreaResilient Agrifood Systemsen_US
cg.subject.alliancebiovciatSUSTAINABILITYen_US
cg.subject.impactAreaEnvironmental health and biodiversityen_US
cg.subject.sdgSDG 8 - Decent work and economic growthen_US
cg.subject.sdgSDG 9 - Industry, innovation and infrastructureen_US
cg.subject.sdgSDG 11 - Sustainable cities and communitiesen_US
cg.subject.sdgSDG 12 - Responsible production and consumptionen_US
dc.contributor.authorJones, Sarahen_US
dc.contributor.authorSanchez, Andreaen_US
dc.contributor.authorWickramaratne, Chaturangien_US
dc.contributor.authorWakaabu, Dirisaen_US
dc.contributor.authorIvanova, Yovitaen_US
dc.contributor.authorMinh, Thaien_US
dc.contributor.authorMockshell, Jonathanen_US
dc.contributor.authorSánchez Choy, José G.en_US
dc.contributor.authorSteinke, Jonathanen_US
dc.date.accessioned2024-07-03T09:58:05Zen_US
dc.date.available2024-07-03T09:58:05Zen_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/148864en_US
dc.titleAre the metrics that companies use effective for monitoring supply chain sustainability? A closer look at cocoa and riceen_US
dcterms.abstractIn a globalized world, consumers need to rely on information provided by agri-food companies to assess the impacts of the food they eat. And consumer interest in eating responsibly is growing, as stories of agriculture-driven deforestation, pollinator declines, and inhumane worker conditions hit the headlines. Major markets are responding too, by starting to require that agribusinesses demonstrate their products meet environmental and social standards (Kinderman, 2020), with the EU law banning products linked to deforestation as a recent example (http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2023/1115/oj). Companies know they need to meet these market requirements and consumer demands, to stay competitive. Indeed, despite an initial cost spike to set up effective monitoring systems, firms benefit financially in the long term from sustainability reporting (Friske et al., 2023), as this helps expand their consumer base. Companies have responded by seeking sustainability certification (e.g. Organic, Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance) or setting themselves sustainability targets and reporting against these. Certification remains a market niche in part due to the high costs, and has its limitations since no single certification scheme addresses social, environmental and economic sustainability dimensions. For this reason, companies seek to demonstrate their sustainability commitments using company-determined targets and monitoring systems. Yet within this space, there is no clear guidance or consensus across agrifood businesses on which targets to set, which indicators to use to measure progress towards them, and how to collect reliable data on these indicators cost-effectively. This makes it difficult to compare companies and products. It increases the likelihood that some companies are using outdated, unreliable or costly methods to collect data because of a lack of tools and knowledge transfer across regions and commodities. It also creates a risk that certain locally important negative impacts (e.g. water depletion, soil degradation, forced labour, and farmer debt-levels) are under-reported, and that the indicators in use are poorly suited to the agroecological, multifunctional farms of the future (e.g. yield measured in tons/ha is a metric well-suited to monocultures and not to agroforestry systems, where whole system yields should be captured). Companies along cocoa and rice supply chains are no exception and the way they choose to monitor sustainability impacts has worldwide importance. An estimated 5.9 million tons of cocoa is produced each year (FAOSTAT, 2022) and used in a range of products, with chocolate the best known and loved by the consumer, while 776 million tons of rice is produced and is a major staple providing approximately 20% of the world’s calories (FAOSTAT, 2022).en_US
dcterms.accessRightsOpen Accessen_US
dcterms.bibliographicCitationJones, S.; Sanchez, A.; Wickramaratne, C.; Wakaabu, D.; Ivanova, Y.; Minh, T.; Mockshell, J.; Sanchez Choy, J.; Steinke, J. (2024) Are the metrics that companies use effective for monitoring supply chain sustainability? A closer look at cocoa and rice. Montpellier (France): Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) 8 p.en_US
dcterms.extent8 p.en_US
dcterms.issued2024-07-01en_US
dcterms.languageenen_US
dcterms.licenseCC-BY-4.0en_US
dcterms.subjectriceen_US
dcterms.subjectarrozen_US
dcterms.subjectagroecologyen_US
dcterms.subjectagroecologíaen_US
dcterms.subjectsostenibilidaden_US
dcterms.subjectinvestmenten_US
dcterms.subjectprivate sectoren_US
dcterms.subjectincentivesen_US
dcterms.subjectincentivosen_US
dcterms.subjectinversionesen_US
dcterms.subjectsupply chainsen_US
dcterms.subjectcocoa industryen_US
dcterms.subjectsustainability assessmenten_US
dcterms.subjectsustainable productionen_US
dcterms.subjectproducción sostenibleen_US
dcterms.subjectsector privadoen_US
dcterms.subjectindustria cacaoteraen_US
dcterms.subjectevaluación de la sostenibilidaden_US
dcterms.typeBriefen_US

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