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Understanding Coffee Certification Dynamics: A Spatial Analysis of Voluntary Sustainability Standard Proliferation

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  • Grabs, Janina
  • Kilian, Bernard
  • Hernandez, Daniel Calderon
  • Dietz, Thomas

Abstract

Third-party Voluntary Sustainability Standards (VSS) have emerged as an increasingly popular strategy to guarantee sustainability in the coffee value chain. Yet, knowledge of the population characteristics of certified farmers, and of the influence of transnational and local supply chain actors on the uptake of VSS at the producer level, is still scarce. Using expert interviews, a comprehensive database of certificate holders and spatial mapping analyses, this paper adds to present knowledge concerning the effectiveness of VSS in the coffee sector in three ways. First, it showcases the structural, geographical and socio-economic tendencies toward VSS adoption in Guatemala, Colombia and Costa Rica, and allows first insights in the additionality and effectiveness of certification schemes derived from these indicators. Second, it contributes to an up-to-date understanding of the coffee supply chain, a sector of great economic importance both to producing and consuming countries that is in constant flux and reorganization, and it explains how current VSS interact with this type of global supply chain. Finally, through the construction of a comprehensive population of certified farmers, it enables better evaluation of existing case studies, generalizability, possible biases and provides valuable information for the preparation of future impact evaluation projects.

Suggested Citation

  • Grabs, Janina & Kilian, Bernard & Hernandez, Daniel Calderon & Dietz, Thomas, 2016. "Understanding Coffee Certification Dynamics: A Spatial Analysis of Voluntary Sustainability Standard Proliferation," International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, International Food and Agribusiness Management Association, vol. 19(3), pages 1-26, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:ifaamr:244667
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.244667
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    2. Caviedes Rubio, Diego Ivan & Delgado, Daniel Ricardo & Olaya Amaya, Alfredo, 2023. "Environmental impacts of certification programmes at Colombian coffee plantations," Economia Agraria y Recursos Naturales, Spanish Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 23(02), December.
    3. Schleifer, Philip & Fiorini, Matteo & Fransen, Luc, 2019. "Missing the Bigger Picture: A Population-level Analysis of Transnational Private Governance Organizations Active in the Global South," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 1-1.
    4. Brenes, Esteban R. & Ciravegna, Luciano & Acuña, Joseph, 2020. "Differentiation strategies in agribusiness – A configurational approach," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 522-539.
    5. Adolfo Quesada-Román & Lilliam Quirós-Arias & Juan Carlos Zamora-Pereira, 2022. "Interactions between Geomorphology and Production Chain of High-Quality Coffee in Costa Rica," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-15, April.
    6. Janina Grabs, 2020. "Assessing the institutionalization of private sustainability governance in a changing coffee sector," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 14(2), pages 362-387, April.
    7. Veenarat Ut-tha & Pai-Po Lee & Rebecca Chung, 2021. "Willingness to Pay for Sustainable Coffee: A Case of Thai Consumers," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(4), pages 21582440211, October.
    8. Janina Grabs & Sophia Louise Carodenuto, 2021. "Traders as sustainability governance actors in global food supply chains: A research agenda," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(2), pages 1314-1332, February.
    9. Estrella, Andrea & Navichoc, David & Kilian, Bernard & Dietz, Thomas, 2022. "Impact pathways of voluntary sustainability standards on smallholder coffee producers in Honduras: Price premiums, farm productivity, production costs, access to credit," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 27(C).

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