Demand-Side Actors in Agricultural Supply Chain Sustainability: An Assessment of Motivations for Action, Implementation Challenges, and Research Frontiers
Agricultural supply chains of forest-risk commodities such as soy, palm oil, and cocoa have risen to the top of the global sustainability agenda. Demand-side actors, including consumer-goods companies, retailers, and civil society organizations have coalesced around a growing number of sustainable s...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-09-01
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| Series: | World |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2673-4060/4/3/35 |
| _version_ | 1797576323049193472 |
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| author | Carina Mueller Christopher West Mairon G. Bastos Lima Bob Doherty |
| author_facet | Carina Mueller Christopher West Mairon G. Bastos Lima Bob Doherty |
| author_sort | Carina Mueller |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Agricultural supply chains of forest-risk commodities such as soy, palm oil, and cocoa have risen to the top of the global sustainability agenda. Demand-side actors, including consumer-goods companies, retailers, and civil society organizations have coalesced around a growing number of sustainable supply chain policies. However, despite rapid advances in tools and methods to convert data into useful information about impacts and policy effectiveness, and their implementation for decision-making is lagging. There is an urgent need to examine such demand-led action and understand how to accelerate progress towards agricultural supply chain sustainability. Here, we explore how demand-side actors within globalized supply chains see limitations in knowledge and barriers to progress in the context of forest-risk commodities. We draw from 20 semi-structured interviews and two focus group discussions with manufacturers, retailers, NGOs, and data providers. Our findings show that civil society pressure in consumer regions is perceived as a key driver guiding action, that certification is commonly sought to reduce detrimental impacts, but that collaboration to tackle systemic issues remains a gap. Companies also highlight the need for simple, timely, and meaningful metrics to assess impacts—practical usability concerns that need to be considered in the search for ever-greater accuracy in capturing complex phenomena. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T21:50:38Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-77525bf1c45f4f9d923215243f0e815a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2673-4060 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T21:50:38Z |
| publishDate | 2023-09-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | World |
| spelling | doaj.art-77525bf1c45f4f9d923215243f0e815a2023-11-19T13:27:55ZengMDPI AGWorld2673-40602023-09-014356958810.3390/world4030035Demand-Side Actors in Agricultural Supply Chain Sustainability: An Assessment of Motivations for Action, Implementation Challenges, and Research FrontiersCarina Mueller0Christopher West1Mairon G. Bastos Lima2Bob Doherty3Stockholm Environment Institute York, Department of Environment and Geography, University of York, York YO10 5NG, UKStockholm Environment Institute York, Department of Environment and Geography, University of York, York YO10 5NG, UKStockholm Environment Institute (SEI), 10451 Stockholm, SwedenSchool for Business and Society, University of York, York YO10 5DD, UKAgricultural supply chains of forest-risk commodities such as soy, palm oil, and cocoa have risen to the top of the global sustainability agenda. Demand-side actors, including consumer-goods companies, retailers, and civil society organizations have coalesced around a growing number of sustainable supply chain policies. However, despite rapid advances in tools and methods to convert data into useful information about impacts and policy effectiveness, and their implementation for decision-making is lagging. There is an urgent need to examine such demand-led action and understand how to accelerate progress towards agricultural supply chain sustainability. Here, we explore how demand-side actors within globalized supply chains see limitations in knowledge and barriers to progress in the context of forest-risk commodities. We draw from 20 semi-structured interviews and two focus group discussions with manufacturers, retailers, NGOs, and data providers. Our findings show that civil society pressure in consumer regions is perceived as a key driver guiding action, that certification is commonly sought to reduce detrimental impacts, but that collaboration to tackle systemic issues remains a gap. Companies also highlight the need for simple, timely, and meaningful metrics to assess impacts—practical usability concerns that need to be considered in the search for ever-greater accuracy in capturing complex phenomena.https://www.mdpi.com/2673-4060/4/3/35sustainable sourcingtraceabilitysupply chaincorporate sustainabilitydeforestation |
| spellingShingle | Carina Mueller Christopher West Mairon G. Bastos Lima Bob Doherty Demand-Side Actors in Agricultural Supply Chain Sustainability: An Assessment of Motivations for Action, Implementation Challenges, and Research Frontiers World sustainable sourcing traceability supply chain corporate sustainability deforestation |
| title | Demand-Side Actors in Agricultural Supply Chain Sustainability: An Assessment of Motivations for Action, Implementation Challenges, and Research Frontiers |
| title_full | Demand-Side Actors in Agricultural Supply Chain Sustainability: An Assessment of Motivations for Action, Implementation Challenges, and Research Frontiers |
| title_fullStr | Demand-Side Actors in Agricultural Supply Chain Sustainability: An Assessment of Motivations for Action, Implementation Challenges, and Research Frontiers |
| title_full_unstemmed | Demand-Side Actors in Agricultural Supply Chain Sustainability: An Assessment of Motivations for Action, Implementation Challenges, and Research Frontiers |
| title_short | Demand-Side Actors in Agricultural Supply Chain Sustainability: An Assessment of Motivations for Action, Implementation Challenges, and Research Frontiers |
| title_sort | demand side actors in agricultural supply chain sustainability an assessment of motivations for action implementation challenges and research frontiers |
| topic | sustainable sourcing traceability supply chain corporate sustainability deforestation |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2673-4060/4/3/35 |
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