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Sustainable Coffee Partnership (SCP)

The current context of growth and diversity among existing sustainability initiatives in the coffee sector presents a significant opportunity for improved impact through a process of enhanced inter-initiative coordination. Under the auspices of the Sustainable Commodity Initiative, IISD and UNCTAD launched the Sustainable Coffee Partnership in 2003. The SCP has adopted the following basic principles as a starting point in its efforts to build a global strategy for sustainability in the coffee sector:

• Principle 1: Producers should be paid a price/wage that covers basic production, living and environmental costs within a competitive framework and displays a measured degree of stability.

• Principle 2: Employment relationships should be maintained in accordance with core ILO conventions and local law.

• Principle 3: Production practices should be environmentally sustainable.

• Principle 4: Producers should have enhanced access to credit and opportunities for diversification.

• Principle 5: Producers should have enhanced access to trade information and trade channels.

By bringing together producers, industry, civil society and public policy-makers, the partnership aims to provide a unique opportunity for enabling multi-stakeholder strategic planning and cooperation towards enhanced sustainability of the sector.

The SCP's Steering Committee is made up of the following leaders in the coffee sector

• Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (CIRAD)—Isabelle Vagneron
• Common Code for the Coffee Community Initiative (CCCC)—Carsten Schmitz
• Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC)—Chantal Line Carpentier
• East African Fine Coffee Association- Robert Nsbirwa
• Embrapa (Brazil)- Garbriel Bartolo
• European Coffee Federation- Roel Vaessen
• FEDECOCAGUA/ANACAFE (Guatemala)-Gerardo Alberto de Leon
• Federacion Nacional de Cafeteleros (FNC) –Diego Pizano
• Inter African Coffee Association-Josefa Sacko
• International Coffee Organization (ICO)—Pablo Dubois
• Junta Nacional de Café de Peru (JNC)-Lorenzo Castillo
• Karnataka Growers Federation ( India)-Pradeep Nandipur
• Sustainable Agriculture Initiative Platform—Emeline Fellus
• OXFAM/Global Alliance on Coffee and Commodities (GLACC)—Constantino Casasbuenas
• Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN)—Chris Wille
• Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA)— Phyllis Johnson
• Technoserve—David Browning
• United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)—Olle Osstenson
• United Stated Trade Representative—David Brooks
• World Bank—Guido Fernandez

The SCP has benefited from a close working relationship with the International Coffee Organization in carrying out its activities and wishes to express its appreciation for the ICO's ongoing support and commitment to promoting multi-stakeholder cooperation and action for sustainable development through the Partnership.

General Documents

• Background Paper - Building a Sustainable Coffee Sector Using Market-Based Approaches: The Role of Multi-stakeholder Cooperation (PDF - 224 kb)
  Among the many challenges facing sustainability in the coffee sector, stakeholders have identified three principle barriers to sustainability over the long term. This background paper to the December 8th and 9th (2003) workshop provides a brief overview of these barriers and some of the initiatives under way to address them. The paper underlines the opportunity and need for enhanced collaboration among existing initiatives in the sector.

• Outline of Research Priorities for Research in the Coffee Sector (PDF - 233 kb)
  Based on input from the Geneva Brainstorming Workshop and Following Consultations under the Sustainable Commodity Initiative Background to the meeting.

• Background Paper - Sustainability in the Coffee Sector (PDF - 227 kb)
  This paper, provided as background for the February brainstorming workshop, outlines the broad range of sustainability issues facing the coffee sector and provides a basic rationale for the adoption of an integrated, cooperative approach to sustainability drawing upon supply chain relations and market forces.

Sustainable Coffee Partnership Documents

• Sustainable Coffee Partnership: Outline of Structure and Approach
  English (PDF - 187 kb) - Français (PDF - 194 kb) - Español (PDF - 200 kb)

  Between January 15 and March 15, 2004, IISD conducted consultations with more than 50 stakeholders across the coffee sector to determine a basic framework for international multi-stakeholder cooperation. Through the consultations stakeholders emphasized:

  • The need for the Partnership to be representative of the entire sector and involve the active participation of and open dialogue between all stakeholders (i.e., governed by stakeholders for stakeholders).

  • The function of the Partnership should be to support and build upon existing sustainability programs and initiatives, while identifying and developing support in areas that are not currently being addressed.

  • The Partnership, while supporting existing projects, should not hinder those activities nor limit a participant's abilities to pursue their specific objectives (i.e., should not depend upon or force consensus).

  • The Partnership should strive for efficiency and avoid unnecessary bureaucracy.

  • Support for the most vulnerable actors in the supply chain should be a priority.

  • The Partnership should focus on concrete, project-based activities.

  On the basis of the consultations, the Provisional Steering Committee tentatively adopted this draft structure (April 27, 2004) but noted that it was premature to implement such a structure at present. It was noted that further stakeholder consultations, particularly within the ICO and CCCCs, would be necessary prior to moving to implementation. These discussions are currently underway.

SCP Projects

• The Committee on Sustainability Assessment (COSA)
  The COSA project offers the first global analysis of the sustainability impacts of major sustainability initiatives operative in the coffee sector.

• Sustainable Commodity Assistance Network
  The Sustainable Commodity Assistance Network originated out of the "implementation taskforce" of the Sustainable Coffee Partnership. The SCF aims to provide generic training to coffee producers and cooperatives so that they can enter sustainable markets more efficiently efficiently and on the basis of sound business planning.

• Finance Alliance for Sustainable Trade (FAST)
  The Financing Alliance for Sustainable Trade is a trade association which sprung out of discussions co-facilitated by IISD on the need for increased access to SME finance as a stimulus to the development of sustainable markets in agricultural commodities. FAST, which aims to reduce transaction costs in the delivery of finance, develop a financial literacy toolbox and facilitate access to guarantees on "social loans", was officially launched in May, 2007.

• GAP Analysis for Sustainable Coffee Production
  Most producers make the decision to enter a specific sustainability system without having any indication of what the eventual costs of making the relevant modifications to production will be. The GAP analysis project assesses the direct costs associated with attaining compliance to three major certification systems operative in the coffee sector.

For more information about this initiative please contact

• Jason Potts
  SCI Project Coordinator
  IISD
  Montreal, Canada
  Phone: (514) 814-1967
  E-mail: jpotts@iisd.ca

• Christopher Wunderlich
  Assistant Coordinator
  Sustainable Commodity Initiative
  E-mail: cwunderlich@iisd.ca

• Olle Ostensson
  Officer-in-Charge
  Commodities Branch
  UNCTAD
  E-mail: Olle.ostensson@unctad.org

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