Sustainability Standards and Agro-Food Exports from East Africa

Lazaro, Evelyne; Riisgaard, Lone; Kilima, F. T. M.; Makindara, Jeremiah; Mnenwa, Raymond

doi:10.1057/9780230281356_6

Cited by 5 publications

(7 citation statements)

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“…Hence the RSPO's members companies need to bear the highest cost. Other studies like Lazaro et al (2008), and Auld (2009) confirm the similar results. Some studies find the sustainability certification alone does not matter for exports.…”

Section: Literature Review Companies' Motivation To Obtain Sustainability Certificationsupporting

confidence: 81%

The Effect of Sustainability Certification for Export on Operational Profitability of Malaysian Palm Oil Companies

Shahida¹,

Hafizuddin-Syah

Fuad

2018

JEM

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Malaysia is the world's second largest palm oil producer with 17.4 million tonnes palm oil produced in 2016. The production is for both domestic and export which contribute towards country's income and economic growth. Despite the significant contribution to the economy, being one of the plantation sectors, Malaysian palm oil has been criticized by the western communities for causing environmental problems such as deforestation and open burning. Hence, it is important for the palm oil companies to ensure sustainable operation and production. The introduction of certified sustainable palm oil (CSPO) or sustainability certification, for instance, Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) and Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO), encourages the sustainable practices by the industry players. Recently, the government had announced the mandatory MSPO-certification in Malaysia by end of 2019. At present, there are only 43.6% Malaysian palm oil companies with at least one certification. The mandatory certification had raised concern among companies on additional costs of adoption which eventually will affect profitability. Moreover, sustainability certifications will only benefit the exporting companies for international market penetration. The question is how important does this certification to the exporting companies as compared to others? This study will analyse the effect of sustainability certification on operational profitability of Malaysian palm oil exporting companies. This study employs generalised least square (GLS) estimation on 17 listed palm oil companies in Bursa Malaysia from 2009 to 2015. The result shows that there is no significant difference in operating profitability due to sustainability certification between the palm oil exporting than the non-exporting companies. The findings indicate that sustainablity practice through RSPO or/and MSPO motivates Malaysian palm oil companies to produce certified palm oil for international and domestic markets, which in line with sustainable development goal (SDG) no. 12 (Ensure Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns) by the United Nations (UN).

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Section: Literature Review Companies' Motivation To Obtain Sustainability Certificationsupporting

confidence: 81%

The Effect of Sustainability Certification for Export on Operational Profitability of Malaysian Palm Oil Companies

Shahida¹,

Hafizuddin-Syah

Fuad

2018

JEM

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“…We can compare this with Tanzania. While there is organizational support for the Tanzanian coffee industry, it does not adequately provide access to certifications (Lazaro et al, 2008). There is some support from NGOs such as Solidaridad, but support seems limited to technical training of farmers and overlooks human capital development in the cooperatives (Verkaart, 2009).…”

Section: Strong Cooperative Sector and Institutional Supportmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There is some support from NGOs such as Solidaridad, but support seems limited to technical training of farmers and overlooks human capital development in the cooperatives (Verkaart, 2009). For this reason, Utz certification in Tanzania is mainly found on large estates (Lazaro et al, 2008) and small holder cooperatives have problems with attrition of farmers from the program (Verkaart, 2009). This seems to be due to a lack of capital, particularly human and financial (Lazaro et al, 2008).…”

Section: Strong Cooperative Sector and Institutional Supportmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For this reason, Utz certification in Tanzania is mainly found on large estates (Lazaro et al, 2008) and small holder cooperatives have problems with attrition of farmers from the program (Verkaart, 2009). This seems to be due to a lack of capital, particularly human and financial (Lazaro et al, 2008). In Costa Rica, cooperatives and supporting NGOs and state organizations (such as INA, Icafe, CATIE and Earthwatch working through the cooperatives) fill this gap by providing capacity-building in cooperative staff and in members.…”

Section: Strong Cooperative Sector and Institutional Supportmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, if poorly managed, certifications may augment inequality among the members in a cooperative (Fraser, Fisher, & Arce, 2013;Getz, 2008;González & Nigh, 2005) and destroy trust (Elder, Zerriffi, & Le Billon, 2012). There is also concern that certification standards may create a barrier for developing countries to participate in these global value chains because of the difficulties associated with complying with certification regulations (Lazaro, Makindara, & Kilima, 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Role of Small Farmer Cooperatives in the Management of Voluntary Coffee Certifications in Costa Rica

Snider¹

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Commentary

Freidberg

2010

Environ Plan A

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Perspective and power in the ethical foodscape From some vantage points, the contemporary foodscape appears littered with ethical alternatives. Consider, for example, the view from Union Square in New York City. Overlooking the square is a multistorey Whole Foods, offering the usual upscale array of organic produce, free-range meats, cage-free eggs, certified seafood, GM-free breakfast cereals, and biodegradable utensils to go with the take-out salad bar selections. Around the corner, Think Coffee brews organic, fairly traded, shade-grown coffeeö locally roasted in Brooklyn, to boot! On the opposite side of the square, a branch of the`Green-certified' Goodburgers chain promises customers antibiotic-free chicken and humanely raised beef. A few blocks south, the newly opened Otarian restaurant posts the carbon count of all its all-veggie fast food, none of which contains flown-in ingredients. And in the square itself, a thrice-weekly greenmarket overflows with produce, meats, cheeses, fish, and baked goods, all more-or-less local.From the perspective of someone seeking an ethically credentialed meal (leaving aside momentarily the question of whether the credentials are valid) Union Square's foodscape lacks for little. In this sense it is not unique even among neighborhoods in downtown Manhattan, much less in the global North more broadly. From San Francisco and London to Prague and Hong Kong, shoppers and diners who want values for money' do not have to search terribly far. In such places (as well as less urban ones) retailers both mainstream and alternative have not only quickly adapted to the demands of such consumers; they have also encouraged and refined them.But obviously they do not deserve all the credit for the rapid transformation of contemporary foodscapes. As the papers in this theme issue have shown, it is equally important to consider the forces operating on and beyond the market: the purchasing co-ops and fair trade NGOs; the school systems that have reformed their meal programs; the government initiatives to use food policy to address a range of socioeconomic, ecological, and especially health problems. Although Lang (2010) focuses on European Union and national-level policy making, New York is just one example of a city where municipal governments are attempting to build a healthier and more sustainable urban foodscape using a combination of labeling laws, procurement, tax credits, and education (Allday, 2008;Clapp et al, 2010; LDA, 2005).The literature analyzing these and related trends is now enormous. Yet as the preceding papers also demonstrate, the empirical terrain is hardly stable. Ongoing economic turmoil and the climate change threat are only two of the more obvious, macrolevel reasons why whatever seemed apparent a few years ago about particular food movements or problems may no longer apply. In this brief commentary I certainly will not attempt to survey all the questions that still need to be asked, as Goodman et al (2010) put it, about ethical food's``premises, promises, and possibilit...

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Sustainability Standards and Agro-Food Exports from East Africa

Cited by 5 publications

References 0 publications

The Effect of Sustainability Certification for Export on Operational Profitability of Malaysian Palm Oil Companies

The Effect of Sustainability Certification for Export on Operational Profitability of Malaysian Palm Oil Companies

The Role of Small Farmer Cooperatives in the Management of Voluntary Coffee Certifications in Costa Rica

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