Case Study 9: Piloting improved stakeholder consultation in human rights due diligence in an SME’s coffee value chain

  • Main question/s addressed​
  • What are the salient human rights risks, and their root causes, in the up-stream segments (from production to export) of the value chain of coffee produced in Uganda and distributed to end-consumers in Belgium?
  • How does the implementation of human rights due diligence and in par-ticular stakeholder engagement impact both the SME and the stakehold-ers?
  • What are barriers and conditions for human rights due diligence, and in particular stakeholder engagement, to be a participatory, empowering and effective tool to address sustainability and human rights issues?
  • Short description of key findings
  • The coffee value chain remains characterizes by important social, labour and environmental issues. There is a clear increase in awareness of these issues and the coffee industry has been engaging actively in sustainability initiatives such as certification and verification systems. However, many root causes remain unaddressed. A possible approach to address the externalization of key social and environmental costs is proper human rights and environmental due diligence (HREDD), as put forward by the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the OECD’s Guidelines for MNEs. Centred on the coffee value chain that starts with coffee production in South Western Uganda and leads to a fair trade retailer distributing coffee in Belgium, this case study maps and assesses current actual and potential negative effects on human rights, in close engagement with rights holders. The study contributes to 1) an improved understanding of salient human rights issues and their root causes in the Ugandan coffee value chains, as experienced by stakeholders and rights holders; as well as 2) an improved understanding of the barriers and conditions for human rights due diligence (HRDD) to be a participatory and empowering tool to assess and address human rights issues.
  • Key salient risks that were identified, include the lack of living wage and living income for coffee farmers and farm workers respectively, as well lack of formal contracts and lack of security in tenure, gender discrimination and gender-based violence, and lack of access to remedy. Delayed payments to farmers and limited transparency in and predictability of price setting were also identified as important factors.
  • The findings and the lessons learned with regard to stakeholder consultation as a practice and key ingredient in solid HREDD, led to the recommendations regarding 1) how to improve the methodological approach to independent risk assessments; 2) how to improve the overall HREDD processes of the different value chain actors; 3) how the different value chain actors (producing cooperative, buyer, certifier) can address the identified salient risks.
  • Key governance / legal / institutional frameworks that play a role
  • Voluntary sustainability certification schemes
  • Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive
  • UN Guiding principles on Business and human rights
  • OECD Guidelines on responsible business conduct and OECD Guid-ance on Due Diligence
  • Key policy frameworks that play a role
  • Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive
  • Issues related to competitiveness in markets that have been explored
The coffee supply chain is characterized by extreme inequality in terms of power and risks between the producers (small scale farmers) on the one side, and the processing and retail industry on the other side.
  • Methodological approach used

The study used a mixed-method approach. The largest part of the study was conducted with a qualitative focus. The key methods that guided this case-study include: Desk research, Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) and targeted Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) in combination with field observations. 

  • Data collected

The results of a literature review leading to the identification of ‘salient’ human rights risks in coffee value chains, were confronted with the findings of field research conducted between May 2023 and December 2023, in the South Western Region of Uganda. Primary data collection took a participatory approach. Researchers visited the identified coffee growing areas and conducted 37 interviews and 10 focus group discussions with in total 75 participants to gather insights from different categories of stakeholders and rights-holders, taking a gender sensitive approach and making sure not to expose participants to risks due to their contribution to the research. The obtained data was analysed using thematic analysis, using the following (deductive and inductive) themes:  

  • Stakeholder map and interpretation of power dynamics and gender aspects in the upstream value chain;
  • Context analysis considering political, environmental, social, legal, technological factors in the Ugandan coffee sector;
  • Identification of policy impacts and ongoing transformations in the coffee value chain.
  • Ranking of salient human rights issues per stakeholder category and root cause analysis of the risks (including the contribution of the buyer/retailer), with a strong emphasis on rights holders views and taking a gender lens;
  • Observations related to the conditions, barriers and effects of meaningful stakeholder engagement as part of HREDD on stakeholders and the company.
  • Preliminary findings were synthesized and checked through a follow up validation meeting with the cooperative and through an opportunity to comment for rights-holders.
  • Impacts achieved and expected from this case study
  • The case study contributes to an improved understanding of what rights-holders in this upstream part of this Ugandan coffee value chain consider to be salient risks. These insights, as well as the collaborative process that led to them, have been important to provide the cooperative as well as its buyer with a shared understanding of the key human rights issues that should be prioritized and of the measures to consider when attempting to prevent or address them. This has led to increased and improved collaboration between both value chain actors, as well as with other buyers that put sustainability central.
  • In addition, the case study insights as well as the research process have contributed to an increased capacity of different actors involved (rights-holders, coffee cooperative, buyer) when it comes to designing and engaging with due diligence processes. This will benefit their future steps with regard to implementing or participating in HREDD.
  • The general insights this case has rendered with regard to the potential and the challenges of applying human rights due diligence for SMEs and other value chain actors, can also inform ongoing policy processes designing and implementing a human and environmental due diligence at national legislative and at company level.
  • Further case-study related documents

The full case study report will not be publically available due to confidentiality restrictions

Case Study Leader

Oxfam België/Belgique
Sarah Vaes
This case study research report was authored by Koen Sneyers, Namratha Ramanan, Sylvia Bohibwa Kyohairwe, and Patrick Stoop of C-Lever.
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Local Partner(s)

A coffee cooperative in Uganda and a fair trade retailer in Belgium.

SDG's Addressed

         

Geographical Focus and Scale

  EU
  Uganda

Product and market focus

The production of coffee.

Key stakeholders

A medium-sized (SME) fair trade company developing its human rights and environmental due diligence (HREDD) policy and practice; experts on HREDD and stakeholder engagement; the coffee cooperative involved; farmers and workers active in the upstream part of this value chain (rights-holders); other companies active in this value chain; fair trade movement.