The Committee on Sustainability Assessment (COSA)

The Committee on Sustainability Assessment was originally formed in response to the findings of the Sustainable Coffee Partnership's Implementation Taskforce (PDF - 71 kb). It identified the need for better information on the impacts of operative sustainability initiatives in the coffee sector as a virtual pre-requisite to the widespread implementation of sustainability initiatives in the coffee sector. The COSA project has since been unanimously endorsed by both the Executive Board (PDF - 192 kb) and the Council (PDF - 474 kb) of the International Coffee Organization.

The COSA project has developed a generalized set of indicators for applying a multi-criteria cost-benefit analysis across farms implementing sustainability initiatives across the three main coffee growing regions of the world. Once complete, the COSA project aims to provide the first objective data and analyses on the social, economic and environmental costs and benefits of all of the major sustainability standards operative in the coffee sector.

The basic characteristics of the COSA project are as follows:

the COSA project will measure the impacts of those sustainability initiatives most prevalent in any given country. In addition to measuring impacts on Fair Trade, Utz Kapeh, Rainforest Alliance, the Common Code for the Coffee Community, Organic and Café Practice-compliant farms, the COSA project will analyze the impacts of other locally applicable initiatives on a case-by-case basis;
between 300 and 500 farms will be tested between six and nine coffee growing countries across Latin America, Africa and Asia;
both small and large farms will be tested under each sustainability initiative; and
farm measurements will follow a single farm from year one to year three of its participation in a given sustainability initiative to enable a continuous time series of changes and impacts.

Key Document

Information Brief on the COSA Project: A Multi-criteria Analysis of Sustainable Practices in Coffee (PDF - 1.7 mb)
This document outlines the basic approach and methodology of the COSA project.

Partners and Supporters

The Sustainable Commodity Initiative (SCI)

The Sustainable Commodity Initiative was launched in 2003 through an IISD-UNCTAD Partnership and has provided a concrete vehicle for SMART project development and implementation. The SCI, now a partnership of IISD-UNCTAD-AidEnvironment and UNCTAD, aims to promote sustainable commodity production and trade by improving awareness of, learning between and appropriate policy responses to voluntary initiatives operative in the commodities sector. To see what the SCI is currently doing and learn more about voluntary initiatives operating in commodity supply chains, please visit the SCI Web site.

Key SCI projects:

Finance Alliance for Sustainable Trade (FAST)

The Finance Alliance for Sustainable Trade (FAST) is an association of socially oriented financial service providers and other stakeholders committed to promoting improved access to finance for producers of sustainable commodities. More specifically, FAST aims to improve producer access to "small and medium enterprise trade finance" by providing a central point of contact, cooperation and information between financial service providers, producers and related stakeholders in international supply chains. To become a member of FAST or learn more, visit the FAST Web site.

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» Financing

» Technical Assistance

» Sustainable Commodity Initiative

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