Designing for value: Structuring voluntary certification programs to increase stakeholder acceptance

Voluntary certification programs are one type of intervention used to incentivize the commodity agricultural sector in tropical forest landscapes to reduce deforestation and improve sustainability. These programs encourage supply-chain actors to produce and source products according to agreed standa...

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Autores principales: Winters, P., Kuo, H.W., Niljinda C, Chen, B., Ongun M, Alves Pinto, H.N., Daryanto, S., Newton, Peter
Formato: Artículo preliminar
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security 2015
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/69446
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author Winters, P.
Kuo, H.W.
Niljinda C
Chen, B.
Ongun M
Alves Pinto, H.N.
Daryanto, S.
Newton, Peter
author_browse Alves Pinto, H.N.
Chen, B.
Daryanto, S.
Kuo, H.W.
Newton, Peter
Niljinda C
Ongun M
Winters, P.
author_facet Winters, P.
Kuo, H.W.
Niljinda C
Chen, B.
Ongun M
Alves Pinto, H.N.
Daryanto, S.
Newton, Peter
author_sort Winters, P.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Voluntary certification programs are one type of intervention used to incentivize the commodity agricultural sector in tropical forest landscapes to reduce deforestation and improve sustainability. These programs encourage supply-chain actors to produce and source products according to agreed standards. We review the cases of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) voluntary certification program in Indonesia, and the Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN) voluntary certification program for cattle in Brazil. Based on field interviews, we explore the challenges faced by these programs to simultaneously sustain the rigor of their standards and boost producer participation. Taken together, we consider that rigor and participation are the principle components of a program’s sustainability impact. Given the high level of contention that often surrounds certification standards, we suggest that the other core activities (including adoption, implementation, and monitoring and enforcement) of certification programs are under-utilized places for generating benefits to producers that bypass the complex politics surrounding standards setting. We further identify a common progression from capacity building to full compliance for most producers. This trend suggests a need to design programs to maintain or increase the rigor of program standards in tandem with deliberate efforts to provide producers with additional benefits. In particular, providing benefits to producers at earlier points in their progression towards full compliance may attract additional producers to the program. Clear and objective expectations of producers at each stage in their progression towards full compliance also may benefit external stakeholders interested in tracking more granularly the progress of producers and the overall impact of certification programs. Keywords
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spelling CGSpace694462024-03-06T10:16:43Z Designing for value: Structuring voluntary certification programs to increase stakeholder acceptance Winters, P. Kuo, H.W. Niljinda C Chen, B. Ongun M Alves Pinto, H.N. Daryanto, S. Newton, Peter agriculture climate change cattle deforestation oil palm Voluntary certification programs are one type of intervention used to incentivize the commodity agricultural sector in tropical forest landscapes to reduce deforestation and improve sustainability. These programs encourage supply-chain actors to produce and source products according to agreed standards. We review the cases of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) voluntary certification program in Indonesia, and the Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN) voluntary certification program for cattle in Brazil. Based on field interviews, we explore the challenges faced by these programs to simultaneously sustain the rigor of their standards and boost producer participation. Taken together, we consider that rigor and participation are the principle components of a program’s sustainability impact. Given the high level of contention that often surrounds certification standards, we suggest that the other core activities (including adoption, implementation, and monitoring and enforcement) of certification programs are under-utilized places for generating benefits to producers that bypass the complex politics surrounding standards setting. We further identify a common progression from capacity building to full compliance for most producers. This trend suggests a need to design programs to maintain or increase the rigor of program standards in tandem with deliberate efforts to provide producers with additional benefits. In particular, providing benefits to producers at earlier points in their progression towards full compliance may attract additional producers to the program. Clear and objective expectations of producers at each stage in their progression towards full compliance also may benefit external stakeholders interested in tracking more granularly the progress of producers and the overall impact of certification programs. Keywords 2015-12-31 2015-12-31T11:11:42Z 2015-12-31T11:11:42Z Working Paper https://hdl.handle.net/10568/69446 en Open Access application/pdf CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security Winters P, Kuo HW, Niljinda C, Chen B, Ongun M, Alves-Pinto HN, Daryanto S, Newton P. 2015. Designing for value: Structuring voluntary certification programs to increase stakeholder acceptance. Working Paper No. 141. Copenhagen, Denmark: CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS)
spellingShingle agriculture
climate change
cattle
deforestation
oil palm
Winters, P.
Kuo, H.W.
Niljinda C
Chen, B.
Ongun M
Alves Pinto, H.N.
Daryanto, S.
Newton, Peter
Designing for value: Structuring voluntary certification programs to increase stakeholder acceptance
title Designing for value: Structuring voluntary certification programs to increase stakeholder acceptance
title_full Designing for value: Structuring voluntary certification programs to increase stakeholder acceptance
title_fullStr Designing for value: Structuring voluntary certification programs to increase stakeholder acceptance
title_full_unstemmed Designing for value: Structuring voluntary certification programs to increase stakeholder acceptance
title_short Designing for value: Structuring voluntary certification programs to increase stakeholder acceptance
title_sort designing for value structuring voluntary certification programs to increase stakeholder acceptance
topic agriculture
climate change
cattle
deforestation
oil palm
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/69446
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