BeanScene Magazine

Over the past 20 years, the issue of corporate social responsibility and sustainability has moved from being a niche item on the coffee industry’s agenda to becoming a mainstream influence.

During this period, a number of initiatives and companies have achieved considerable success in improving the incomes and subsequent standards of living of coffee farmers.

However, despite their success and growing market share, until now there is still a limited percentage of farmers who do benefit from access to the markets and services that these initiatives provide.

In 2002 - the midst of the international coffee crisis - many company heads, producers and government and social advancement organisations in the coffee sector were asking themselves how the process could be expedited. The question was how this type of sustainability could become embraced and accepted in the mainstream industry. 

The Common Code for the Coffee Community project, later to become the 4C Association, was borne out of these ideals. It set an ambitious main goal. Namely,  to bring sustainability to the mainstream coffee sector with, ultimately, 100% compliance to – at least - baseline sustainability standards.

The project’s leaders knew that any efforts to make the coffee supply chain more sustainable had to start at the beginning - the farmer level. The majority of the world’s coffee is grown in developing countries where many farmers lack adequate resources, knowhow and access to information. This in turn reinforces poor agricultural, processing and management practices and the domino effect is that it causes economic, social and environmental problems for coffee farming communities. The pressing need was to help such farmers become organised so that they could adopt and maintain more sustainable practices. This goal could only be achieved by involving all the participants in the coffee supply chain and by providing farmers with training, tools and access to information.

This is precisely what the 4C Association does. It brings together producers, trade and industry and civil society organisations to jointly work towards improving the economic, social and environmental conditions for all who make their living from growing coffee. Within the association, each member has clear responsibilities and plays a role to achieve this common goal.

THE 4C CODE OF CONDUCT:
The main instrument of the 4C Association is its Code of Conduct. It was devised in 2003 as a result of the consensus between the different stakeholder groups involved in
the association: roasters and traders, producers and civil society organisations, associated members and even individual members.

The Code sets baseline criteria for the sustainable production, processing and trading of green coffee.  As part of the Code, all 4C Members have pledged to exclude 10 unacceptable practices based on international agreements and regulations, such as the United Nations and International Labour Organisation conventions and national laws.
The 4C Association believes that sustainability is a goal that can only be reached with time and continuous efforts. This is why the concept of continuous improvement is a key element of the Code of Conduct.  Using a traffic light system to guide farmers, compliance with the code allows farmers to gradually move from poor or “red practices” - as defined by the code – to “yellow” and eventually “green,” which indicates compliance with the highest level of sustainability in the code.  It is important to note that producers’ sustainable practices need to be confirmed by independent third-party verification, before they are able to market 4C Compliant Coffee.

SUPPORT SERVICES FOR FARMERS
The 4C Association aims at increasing farmers’ net income through quality improvement, cost reduction, increased efficiency and optimisation of the supply chain.  Compliance with the code can therefore, help to improve agricultural processing and management practices, resulting in direct economic benefits to farmers through increased yields and quality.

To accompany farmers on their sustainability journey, the 4C Association, its members and partners provide support services including training and access to tools and information. Backing is provided through the 4C Support Services Department and a global network of partners in the different coffee producing regions.

To date, more than 78,000 farmers and other business partners as well as more than 280,000 workers benefit from their participation in one of the 73 producing entities Already operating worldwide that are verified to supply 4C Compliant Coffee – also called 4C Units.

COOPERATION WITH OTHER INITIATIVES
Compliance with the 4C code is often the beginning of an even longer journey towards sustainable coffee production.  Reaching the “green level” of 4C practices takes time and considerable effort. However, this is not an end in itself as many farmers decide to go on to comply with more demanding standards and attain their certification. In order to facilitate this stepping up process, the 4C Association engages in a dialogue with other standard-setting initiatives.

The ongoing dialogue has already brought some tangible results to the stepping up process. For instance, in 2008 the standards and systems of the 4C Association and the Rainforest Alliance were benchmarked. Holders of the Rainforest Alliance Certificate can now apply for a 4C License without additional costs or verification procedures.

Because 4C is a baseline standard, 4C License holders need to step up to SAN standards in order to obtain the Rainforest Alliance Certificate. Currently both organisations are working on a specific “stepping up” tool to help farmers in this process.

RESPONSIBILITIES OF 4C TRADE AND INDUSTRY MEMBERS
Sustainability in the mainstream coffee sector will only become a reality, if not only farmers, but also businesses take responsibility. Trade and Industry members therefore have clear responsibilities within the 4C Association. Their membership fees cover the verification costs for producers. They also contribute up to 70% of their membership fees to finance 4C support services. Most importantly, roasters in the 4C Association commit to buying increasing amounts of coffee from verified sources over time. They report on these amounts on an annual basis to the 4C Association.

However, many final buyers have committed to accelerating the process with ambitious goals. For instance, Nestlé announced at the end of August 2010, tthat it would source 180,000 tons of 4C Compliant Coffee by 2015 (the total of the coffee that the company purchases through direct procurement), marking a great milestone in the aims of the 4C Association. Other buyers, such as Tchibo and Strauss, have also publically announced ambitious goals for their purchasing of 4C Compliant Coffee.

As of mid-2010, the production potential of 4C Compliant Coffee accounted for about 10% of the global green coffee supply. It is estimated that 4C members now represent a share of more than 30% of this supply.

These figures show that through a unified effort, the members of the 4C Association can make a substantial difference in the coffee sector.  However, the Association is still far from reaching the goal it set in 2002: to ensure that all coffee meets baseline sustainability standards.

Therefore, the association is now working to scale up the initiative. This includes   expansion of membership, monitoring the impact on the ground, building new partnerships and providing tailormade support services for farmers. With more trade and industry members joining the association and purchasing 4C Compliant Coffee and more farmers applying the Code of Conduct and benefiting from 4C support services, plus the support of the coffee community as a whole, the association believes that reaching baseline mainstream sustainability in the coffee sector is not a utopia but an achievable goal in the medium term.