Research
Scaling Up: Insights from different commodities.
The overarching objective of the Seas of Change Learning initiative is to understand how to build on the explosion of sustainable value chain initiatives which took place over the past decade to achieve the scale of change needed. Where are efforts remaining ‘islands of success’ and where are they adding up to a ‘sea of change’? What inspirational examples are emerging? What ideas could be adapted?
In this framework, we have carried out a review of the main trends, strengths and challenges of selected agri-food commodities chains and highlighted efforts made so far to set up inclusive business models and to scale them up.
Starting from an understanding of the rationale and incentive behind investing in inclusive markets, for each commodity analysed (cocoa, coffee, horticulture, dairy, aquaculture, rice) we tried to answer the following questions:
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Which are the trend and challenges of the sector/who are the players?
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Which are the Incentives for inclusiveness?
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Which success factors made your business model inclusive?
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Which is the scale of inclusiveness achieved so far?
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Which are the goals?
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Which are the mechanisms for scaling up?
The present review summarises the findings of the stand alone commodities fact sheets. This analysis of the drivers, results, and key elements these inclusive business models share allows to identify cross- cutting mechanisms which can be used to scale up inclusive business practices.
The review builds on successful experiences in the literature, on case studies received by Seas of Change partners and companies and on insights emerged from interviews with experts and key players in the sector, including: Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund (AECF), africaJUICE (Ethiopia), Ahold Coffee Company, Armajaro, Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), Cargill, Cooperativa Cuatro Pinos (Guatemala), Eosta, Fairfields, Hillside Green (Kenya), International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), KIVU Arabica Coffee Company (Rwanda), Mars, Nestlé, Oxfam Novib, Rabobank, Sara Lee, Sustainable Food Lab (SFL), Sustainable Trade Initiative(IDH), Technoserve, Unilever, UTZ Certified.
