Continuous Improvement

Finding a verification system that encourages sustainability

How can you be sure 140,000 small farmers in Africa are all pursuing the goal of sustainable agriculture? That was the question – and the challenge – facing PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). The auditing and consultancy firm was commissioned by the Aid by Trade Foundation to provide a comprehensive review of the verification system used by Cotton Made in Africa. CmiA is committed to improving methods of cotton cultivation with the ultimate aim of long-term sustainability. Along the way, small farmers and their families in Africa should see their living standards rise and the environmental impact of their activities reduced. Keeping that promise to businesses allied with CmiA and their customers requires systematic monitoring.

Drawing on previous experience with a similar project in the coffee sector, PwC first visited cotton cooperatives and small farmers in Benin, Burkina Faso, Mozambique, Zambia, and Malawi to get a firsthand impression of the situation on the ground. At the heart of their inquiry was the question: How can CmiA’s goals best be reflected through its verification process? “During our visits,” Sascha Sobek of PwC says, “it quickly became apparent that people already knew where there was potential for further development.” In addition to reviewing compliance with minimum standards such as prohibitions on child labor and bribery, PwC addressed criteria aimed at producing continuous improvement in the ecological, economic, and social realms. “What’s striking about the verification system is that the production stakeholders see themselves as a community,” Sobek says. “They all approve of the criteria and are eager to submit to regular inspections.”

For 140,000 small farms to be inspected adequately, they must be subdivided into organizational units. The cotton cooperatives that purchase and gin small farmers’ raw cotton serve as hubs, taking responsibility for assuring that production takes place in line with agreed-upon criteria. The information they provide is then independently verified. Follow-up verification by CmiA helps ensure progress toward the goal of continuous improvement in production sustainability. In the ecological realm, for instance, criteria limit the use of pesticides and help protect vulnerable biotopes, while what counts on the economic side is transparency in contracting and pricing. With regard to the social realm, occupational health and safety are still primary concerns for the inspectors.

Christoph Kaut of the Aid by Trade Foundation is impressed with PwC’s work: “The team from PricewaterhouseCoopers has, with a high level of personal commitment, created a practicable and pragmatic scheme for the verification system. Their intensive dialogue with the stakeholders, especially, has led to widespread acceptance of the system as a whole.”

Text: Sascha Hellmann