Partnering for change in chains: on the capacity of partnerships to promote sustainable change in global agricultural commodity chains

Verena Bitzer wrote a thesis on the most debated subject of the influence of partnerships on sustainable change. Because the full text is not yet available, I am writing between the lines of her abstract. My text is is italics and in bold.

One general remark, and I guess that might be university policy, is that Verena is throwing out her research in the newspapers and that there is no way to read her work, only days after publication. With challenging findings like these, I would have thought a seminar with the actors described and based on the full text would actually result in a healthy discussion.

Partnerships mirror the changing nature of the relationships among state, business and civil society organizations I would change state for government and add academic institutions, that more often than not also play a pivotal role in partnerships. , and are often considered as innovative mechanisms to overcome single actor failure Failure is a big word, that could be the case, speed of change might be another. in the context of globalization.

This thesis analyzes the capacity of partnerships to promote sustainable change in global agricultural commodity chains, using the global coffee, cotton and cocoa chains Being very specific commodities with special context, also depending on the regions and countries. We can only learn later when the full text is available. Challenging commodities like palm oil and soy would have added to the conclusions. as main fields of application for the empirical analyses. All three chains are characterized by various sustainability challenges, including environmental degradation, abundant use of agrochemicals, poor working conditions, and widespread poverty.

From a governance perspective, the emergence of partnerships is largely positive inasmuch as partnerships act as initiators and agents of change which, although still mostly confined to niche markets Excuse me, niche markets? Coffee, cotton and cocoa? In terms of supply, or demand? Or related to sustainability?, unfolds a chain-wide governance effect. Partnerships create new practices focusing on technological change and performance at the production level. While many partnerships promote standards as competitive strategies Or pre-competitive, as is mostly the case. It's about level playing field most of the time. to safeguard the application of the new practices, other partnerships link up in networks and exchange resources to facilitate sustainable change. From a development perspective, the positive effects of partnerships are rather indirect and ambiguous. Yeah, and now I need the full text, because what does Verena mean by that?

Several aspects of partnerships can be viewed critically and challenge their capacity to promote sustainable change. The benefits for producers are often uncertain as partnerships largely operate in a business-driven and top-down mode, and do not address certain development concerns Which does not mean they are not beneficial for the producers as is indicated here., such as the strengthening of organizational capital. You would like to see a situation where partners agree on the issues and concerns and then act on those. In as far as that is logical for the main objectives of those partners. I still remember all the wise words from Director Generals at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Agriculture before going to Africa, telling me that "You have to make it work on both sides and make it business, because then you are talking sustainable sustainability!". And I would add that producers should be part and parcel of the partnerships: committed sustainability or "embedded certification" as Adrie Papma of Oxfam Novib called it this afternoon. By creating long term inclusive partnerships we could even get rid of certification and go for sustainability processing throughout the chain. These differing conclusions on the capacity of partnerships can be explained by the fact that partnerships largely embody the neoliberal agenda, which appears to marginalize certain development concerns Agree, because that was and is not supposed to be the reason for being for those partnerships. Business Based Building for Sustainability. Other actors are in the 'business' of addressing "certain development concerns"., including the issue of smallholder empowerment Now, this is adressed in most parterships nowadays., the costs and benefits of different certification schemes This is most certainly discussed., or the implications of partnerships for the poorest segment of producers Is Verena talking here about producers in the chain of producers outside the chain, not to conclude that every producer should and would benefit from being a part of the chain. The dominance of business objectives over development concerns It's not the dominance I would say, it is a deliberate choice to concentrate on what you are good at as a partner and what kind of change you can actually make. shows that partnerships are constrained in their capacity to reshape the relationship between business and development without external incentives. Ultimately, they might adjust current structures, but it is unlikely that the incremental change pursued by many partnerships would lead to a more fundamental change. Fundamental change of what? This indicates that such concerns cannot be addressed through a collaborative attempt to make a business case They also should not if I have a feel for the development concerns of Verena. We do not want private sector governance in public sector issues I would think., as is the underlying assumption of partnerships. As a result, it might be hypothesized that the resolution of such issues would require a political struggle of social contestation A struggle for superiority or victory between rivals, sounds like a war t me. .rather than collaboration in order to re-negotiate the relationship between business and development. Is that not going back to the old days, where we tried to catch each others flies. I hope not.

Given the active role of NGOs in initiating the partnership trend by challenging firm behavior, it depends mostly on NGOs to re-politicize their interactions with businesses That I challenge, you seems to push business into an area where they do not have expertise, and achieve a broader framing of the sustainability problems than businesses are willing to endorse. It is not about willing, it is about expertise. And that is the whole idea behind partnerships, to bring different kinds of expertise together to enhance sustainability in those areas where business is active. Please, let's not try to make businesses into a kind of mini-governments.

Verena, I invite you for a seminar where we can discuss your research and my experience. Together with other actors. That sounds like an interesting afternoon!