Stepping up towards scaling up sustainable coffee production

ISEAL ConferenceJune 8 2011, Zurich, SwitzerlandAndrea Bruestle, 4C Association

The 4C Association

… is an inclusive membership driven organization of

coffee farmers,

trade & industry and civil society. Members work jointly

towards

improving economic, social & environmental conditions

through

more sustainable and transparent practices for all who

make a living

in the coffee sector.

… aims to be recognized by the coffee sector as the first step towards a

more sustainable and transparent worldwide coffee community.

For a better coffee world

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2003 PPP between through the auspices of DKV, GTZ / BMZ:

coffee crisis raised the need for baseline

sustainability in the coffee sector

2006 Founding of the 4C Association

2007 First operational year of the 4C Association: first

training and verification activities

- 2010 Rapid growth in members and volumes of 4C

Compliant Coffee, establishment of regional offices

2011 Approval of the new business model

History of the 4C Association

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• Being the multi-stakeholder sustainable coffee platform addressing the broader sustainability agenda

• Defining and maintaining the Baseline Standard and Verification System for sustainable coffee production and sourcing

• Actively promoting sustainability standards and initiatives in the market to create supply and demand of verified and certified sustainable coffee

Main functions of the 4C Association in the new business model

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Low entry level and continuous improvement

10 Unacceptable Practices

Exclusion as pre-requisite for entering 4C System

Improvement path

towards more

sustainability

28 Principles of continuous improvement

Green: Desirable practicee.g. least toxic pesticides

Yellow: Practice to be improvede.g. use of pesticides with low acute toxicity (FAO recommendations, 4C yellow list)

Red: Practice to be discontinued e.g. use of hazardous pesticides (4C red list)

-----_____________

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-Entering into the 4C System

-Eradicating unacceptable practices

-Implementing the 4C Code of Conduct

No Sustainability

Baseline performance

-Compliance with higher-level sustainability standards

-4C Verificationas preparation for certification

Advanced performance

Stepping Up with the 4C Association

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4C ASSOCIATION AND RAINFOREST ALLIANCE:

TOWARDS COMBINED EFFORTS TO SUPPORT

FARMERS ON THEIR WAY TO A SUSTAINABLE

COFFEE PRODUCTION

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04/11/23Copyright Rainforest Alliance 2007

THE RAINFOREST ALLIANCE

The Rainforest Alliance is an international, nonprofit environmental and sustainable development organization.

It works to conserve biodiversity and ensure sustainable livelihoods

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COOPERATION 4C ASSOCIATION – RAINFOREST ALLIANCE

• Rainforest Alliance became member of the 4C Association in 2007

• Benchmarking of SAN Standard against 4C Code of Conduct in 2008 in cooperation with ISEAL and IMO: producer who owns a farm that is Rainforest Alliance Certified may apply to receive the 4C License without the need for additional verification. (irreciprocal process)

• Joint activities such as projects, trainings, presentations, workshops etc.

• Recognition of the stepwise approach by coffee industry (Nestlé´s Nescafé Plan, Kraft Foods, Tchibo)

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STEPPING UP APPROACH

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STEPPING-UP EXERCISE 1: EL SALVADOR

• Cooperativa Cuidad Barrios, 873 small holder farmers associated

• 4C Member, successful 4C Verification of 256 farms

• First phase: 132 4C verified farms involved in stepping-up to RAC

• TA for the implementation of SAN

• RAC by end of 2010

• Availability of more than 900 MT of green coffee 4C verified & RAC (total)

• Involvement of local exporter

• Shared costs for TA and documentation

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12

Internal Management System

Lead by SalvaNatura specialists

Farms diagnosticsLead by SalvaNatura

specialists

All farms social-environmental

management systemsLead by SalvaNatura

specialists

Training to smallproducers/workers/

local techniciansLead by SalvaNatura

specialists

Farms diagnosticsBy Coops technicians

All farms social-environmental

systems by Coops technicians

Chain of Custody´s diagnostic

By SalvaNatura Specialists

Farms visits assessment and improvementsSalvaNatura specialists

All farms social-environmental

systems by Coops technicians

Farms visits assessments and

improvementsCoops technicians

External Group Certification audit

SAN´s Inspection Body

Farms Group certifiedSAN´s Certification Body

1st MONTHOCTOBER

2nd MONTHNOVEMBER

3rd MONTHDECEMBER

4th MONTHJANUARY

Internal Management

System working

Chain of Custody in place

Process timing of key activities

4C to RAC Stepping Un Exercise conducted by SalvaNatura and implemented in Coop Ciudad Barrios

License No.: <xxx>.

The 4C Association hereby confirms that the registered and verified 4C Unit:

<Name of the 4C Unit>

<4C Unit Address>

<4C Unit registration no.: xxxxx-xx-x

has reached “average yellow” performance in implementing the 4C Code of Conduct

and started its continuous improvement process towards sustainability.

This 4C Unit is now licensed to sell coffee within the 4C supply chain from its listed

4C business partners in accordance with the Communication Guidelines as well as the Rules of

Participation of the 4C Association.

This license to sell 4C Compliant Coffee is valid until

Dd month yyyy.

4C Secretariat | Adenauerallee 108 | 53113 Bonn | Germany

PHONE +49 (0)228 850 50 0 | FAX +49 (0)228 850 50 20 | EMAIL info@4c-coffeeassociation.org | WEB www.4c-coffeeassociation.org

The 4C Association is registered with the Register of Commerce in Geneva, CH-660-2928006-4, c/o CR Gestion & Fiduciaire SA, Route des Jeunes 9, 1227 Carouge-Geneva, Switzerland

Geneva, Switzerland

______________ Date

Christian Osterhaus

Director Operations

LICENSE TO SELL 4C COMPLIANT COFFEE

ISEAL Conference, June 8th 2011, Zurich

MAYOR LEARNINGS FROM THE STEPPING-UP

• No “blue print” in stepping up from 4C to RA compliance, but overall performance improvement

• 4C Code of Conduct is a useful tool and basis for Rainforest Alliance Certification

• Commercial interest of the buyer is key• Experienced field staff to facilitate the process• Basic Internal Montoring System should be in place• Monitoring tools applicable for both systems (eg 4C Business Partner Mapping)

• Learning-by-doing GAPs instead of focussing on specific standard requirements

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THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!

4C Secretariat

Adenauerallee 108, 53113 Bonn, Germany

Phone+49 (0) 228 850 50 0

Fax +49 (0) 228 850 50 20

Email info@4c-coffeeassociation.org

Web www.4c-coffeeassociation.org

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