Responsible investment in and by agribusinesses—including crop producers, processors, and traders—can play a transformative role in driving innovation in agrifood systems, building market and supply chain linkages, and contributing to local economies and communities. These outcomes can be enhanced when agribusinesses align their policies, operations, and practices with the Committee on World Food Security’s Principles for Responsible Investment in Agriculture and Food Systems (CFS-RAI).

The agribusiness in this case study, Tropic Coffee, is supported by the impact investor Alterfin as part of the Smallholder Safety Net Up-scaling Programme (SSNUP). This program brings together investors to promote sustainable, climate-smart farming practices and improve food security and living standards in developing countries. It is part of a series aimed at analyzing how well SSNUP investees perform and comply with international standards for responsible business conduct, such as the CFS-RAI.

Tropic Coffee’s mission is to be a leading Rwandan coffee producer by providing specialty coffee that aims to meet international standards while increasing income for local farmers. However, it faces financial difficulties due to competitive rates, the lack of a direct relationship between bean prices obtained and cherry prices paid to farmers, not having its own dry mill, and reduced demand for higher-priced organic coffee given the uncertain global economy.

We measured Tropic Coffee’s compliance with principles for responsible investment across seven key dimensions. Overall, they were found to have a moderately high level of compliance. The founders focus on empowering women by giving them better market access and prices, which helps increase their income. They also help women form savings groups to further support their financial independence.

The case study recommends that, while alignment is moderately high, the board should learn more about principles for responsible investment and business conduct so they can create a clearer strategy and better accountability processes.

Responsible investment in and by agribusinesses—including crop producers, processors, and traders—can play a transformative role in driving innovation in agrifood systems, building market and supply chain linkages, and contributing to local economies and communities. These outcomes can be enhanced when agribusinesses align their policies, operations, and practices with the Committee on World Food Security’s Principles for Responsible Investment in Agriculture and Food Systems (CFS-RAI).

The agribusiness in this case study, Sénégalaise des Filières Alimentaires (SFA), is supported by an impact investor involved in the Smallholder Safety Net Up-scaling Programme (SSNUP). This program brings together investors to promote sustainable, climate-smart farming practices and improve food security and living standards in developing countries. It is part of a series aimed at analyzing how well SSNUP investees perform and comply with international standards for responsible business conduct, such as the CFS-RAI.

SFA is representative of small- and medium-sized agricultural processing enterprises in the rice industry. They face several challenges—including government price setting for paddy rice, securing sufficient volumes for financial sustainability, and establishing and maintaining trust and relationships with farmers, communities, industry enterprises, and other stakeholders.

We measured SFA's compliance with principles for responsible investment across seven key dimensions. Overall, we found them to have a moderate level of compliance. SFA has an inclusive and transparent structure, contributes significantly to the livelihoods of farmers, communities, and local businesses, and in return receives great loyalty from them.

The case study makes several recommendations for how to address areas where SFA's compliance falls short. For example, SFA could formally incorporate principles for responsible investment into its strategy, building on its current approach to sustainable business conduct; it could be stricter in enforcing health and safety procedures among staff; and, when feasible, it could increase its rice prices to be more in line with other competitors.

Responsible investment in and by agribusinesses—including crop producers, processors, and traders—can play a transformative role in driving innovation in agrifood systems, building market and supply chain linkages, and contributing to local economies and communities. These outcomes can be enhanced when agribusinesses align their policies, operations, and practices with the Committee on World Food Security’s Principles for Responsible Investment in Agriculture and Food Systems (CFS-RAI).

The agribusiness in this case study, Mahembe, is supported by an impact investor involved in the Smallholder Safety Net Up-scaling Programme (SSNUP). This program brings together investors to promote sustainable, climate-smart farming practices and improve food security and living standards in developing countries. It is part of a series aimed at analyzing how well SSNUP investees perform and comply with international standards for responsible business conduct, such as the CFS-RAI.

Mahembe is representative of small and medium-sized agricultural enterprises in Rwanda, operating as a cherry producer, green bean processor, and exporter, selling green beans to specialty coffee roasters. They face several challenges—such as finding well-paying markets for specialty beans, managing supply with an aging farmer population, assuring quality for niche coffee sectors, and accessing the financial resources needed to scale operations.

We measured their compliance with principles for responsible investment across seven key dimensions. Overall, we found them to have a high level of compliance. This is due to Mahembe deliberately setting clear objectives to develop the business in a socially responsible way.

Our case study recommends that Mahembe adopt a more formal approach to recording its policies and procedures. This should include clearly defining principles focused on development, such as support for the community and young farmers. Doing so will help new shareholders and employees understand and follow these guidelines, ensuring ongoing compliance with responsible agricultural investment standards.

Responsible investment in and by agribusinesses—including crop producers, processors, and traders—can play a transformative role in driving innovation in agrifood systems, building market and supply chain linkages, and contributing to local economies and communities. These outcomes can be enhanced when agribusinesses align their policies, operations, and practices with the Committee on World Food Security’s Principles for Responsible Investment in Agriculture and Food Systems (CFS-RAI).

The agribusiness in this case study, LIMBUA, is supported by the impact investor Incofin as part of the Smallholder Safety Net Up-scaling Programme (SSNUP). This program brings together investors to promote sustainable, climate-smart farming practices and improve food security and living standards in developing countries. It is part of a series aimed at analyzing how well SSNUP investees perform and comply with international standards for responsible business conduct, such as the CFS-RAI.

LIMBUA is representative of small and medium-sized processing and marketing enterprises in Kenya and operates in the fruit and nut sector. It faces several challenges—from competition for farmer crops to difficulty in accessing local finance and climate-related production uncertainties. It sources its products from local farmers who are certified both organic and Fairtrade. The company provides advisory support on correct organic production techniques, as well as on good agricultural practices for food crops produced for home consumption and the local market.

We measured LIMBUA’s compliance with principles for responsible investment across seven key dimensions. Overall, the company demonstrates a high level of compliance and offers a learning opportunity for other companies. Its operations and processes are relatively honed to ensure responsible and sustainable business conduct at all levels. This is due to conscious choices from the outset to set very clear goals and expectations, develop an innovative business model, and work with stakeholders who could support their aims in the short and long terms.

The case study nevertheless makes several recommendations to LIMBUA, its investors, the government, and other stakeholders to make further improvements. These include suggestions for LIMBUA to boost employees’ understanding and approach to organic farming and to support farmers with seasonal cash flow challenges. It also encourages investors to consider further capital investment to support the company’s continued expansion and diversification.

Responsible investment in and by agribusinesses—including crop producers, processors, and traders—can play a transformative role in driving innovation in agrifood systems, building market and supply chain linkages, and contributing to local economies and communities. These outcomes can be enhanced when agribusinesses align their policies, operations, and practices with the Committee on World Food Security’s Principles for Responsible Investment in Agriculture and Food Systems (CFS-RAI).

The agribusiness in this case study is part of the Smallholder Safety Net Up-scaling Programme (SSNUP), which brings together investors to promote sustainable, climate-smart farming practices and improve food security and living standards in developing countries. It is part of a series aimed at analyzing how well SSNUP investees perform and comply with international standards for responsible business conduct, such as the CFS-RAI.

The company is representative of small and medium-sized traders in the cocoa industry, which is a major export crop in West Africa. The industry faces an array of challenges—from climate-related issues to declining profitability and limited finance and resources. Traders must also grapple with restrictions established by the authorities, high competition with larger firms, and the need to devote considerable effort to establishing and maintaining relationships and trust with farmers, communities, enterprises, and other stakeholders in the value chain.

We measured the agribusiness’s compliance with principles for responsible investment across seven key dimensions. Overall, its level of compliance is acceptable, but significant action is required in areas in which it is weak. For example, the company is a small business in a very competitive environment. It, therefore, tends to focus on operational matters for survival, neglecting strategic matters and dealing with responsible business conduct in an ad hoc way.

Based on these findings, the case study concludes with extensive recommendations to the trader, its financial investors, the government, and other stakeholders. These include the need for more rigorous strategy building and formalization of processes, including those related to responsible agricultural investment, with supporting action proposed to financial investors and others.

In March 2022, United Nations (UN) member states gathered in Nairobi, Kenya, and adopted one of the most ambitious resolutions for environmental protection in recent history. UN Environment Assembly Resolution 5/14 established a mandate for countries to end plastic pollution and establish an international, legally binding agreement addressing the full life cycle of plastics by the end of 2024. Because plastic products are so ubiquitous, initiatives aiming to meet the resolution's deadline will impact a myriad of products flowing through supply chains around the world. Inevitably, new national and international policies aiming to curb the manufacture, sale, import/export, and use of certain types of plastics, plastic products, or plastic waste will impact trading partners, sometimes in unforeseen ways.

Many WTO members have already established national bans and prohibitions of specific plastic products to restrict their use, and some have also added supplementary requirements with conditions on the ways in which plastic products are allowed to enter their markets. Due to the absence of a global agreement harmonizing the conditions of plastic-related prohibitions, restrictions, and requirements, governments have been left on their own to define scope or conditions.

The brief examines instances in which plastics-related policies implemented by WTO members have created friction between trading partners due to their actual or potential impact on trade. The authors identify where such friction has arisen, determine the nature and categories of the issues that have been raised, and provide recommendations for future regulations.

Indonesia's economic development has made great strides over the past couple of decades, with stable economic growth, rising incomes, and falling poverty. Despite these successes, the country's agrifood systems reflect several challenges that hinder efforts to further sustainable development in the country, including food insecurity, malnutrition, unsustainable agricultural practices, and deforestation and associated climate impacts.

The Indonesian government and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) recognize that analyzing and modelling changes in agrifood systems is key to understanding governance issues as well as identifying the best policies, synergies, and trade-offs to support transformation efforts.

This report details an innovative modelling approach developed and piloted in Indonesia by researchers from the International Food Policy Research Institute, the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, IISD, and Kiel University. The approach uses three economic models to generate insights to aid policy-makers in creating technically sound and politically feasible interventions.

The report provides the context for agrifood systems transformation in Indonesia, describes the overall modelling approach, synthesizes the results of individual modelling activities, and distills these into overall findings.

It concludes with implications for policy-making and suggests next steps for agrifood systems transformation in Indonesia. The results and insights are expected to support efforts to translate Indonesia's commitments into concrete policy interventions and inform the Indonesian government's medium- and long-term development planning.

This state-of-play report serves to provide a comprehensive overview of the process that has led to this point, the remaining areas of negotiation, the key elements expected in the agreement, and the potential outcomes following the finalization of the legal text.

The report also offers a thorough analysis of the agreement's development dimension, delving into the flexibilities and benefits that developing country and least developed country parties can anticipate, as well as the concerns and opportunities associated with the article.

The report has been produced with financial support from the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA).

Raising tax revenue is especially important for developing countries, as strong tax systems are central to financing development. In many countries revenue remains well below the levels needed to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and secure robust and stable growth. Like other sectors of the economy, there are tax base erosion risks in the mining sector that can hinder domestic resource mobilization, particularly from the operations of multinational enterprises.

This practice note examines the particular base erosion risks from the use of debt by mining multinationals and responds to a concern of many developing countries that multinationals excessively use debt in mineral-producing countries as a mechanism to shift profits abroad and avoid tax obligations.

In the mining sector royalties and income taxes are usually levied on the price of the mineral, multiplied by the volume. The price might be the actual sale price received or the relevant quoted price, if there is one. Consequently, government revenue depends on mineral products being priced and measured accurately.

This practice note aims to increase policy-makers' knowledge of the process of determining the value of exported minerals. The focus is determining the value (or quality) of mineral exports, not the quantity. While there is a risk that companies may underestimate both, verifying the value of minerals is more complex and requires more technical expertise. Additionally, most governments have some measures in place to verify quantity—for example, draft surveys to calculate the weight of a ship carrying minerals for export—whereas the skills, expertise, and facilities to monitor mineral value are lacking.

Having laid the foundation, this practice note outlines three main policy options for improving government oversight of mineral product export valuation, including:

• direct measurement of mineral value,
• monitoring companies' own mineral export valuation processes, and
• a hybrid approach.

The goal is that policy-makers will be equipped to make informed, risk-based decisions on how best to monitor the value of mineral exports.