Abstract
Most coffee certification schemes are developed by Northern-based businesses and NGOs to regulate the production of coffee in the South. It is questionable whether these Northern-driven standards correspond to the preferences of coffee farmers in the South. Understanding farmer preferences and taking them into account when developing or improving certification schemes is believed to lead to more internalized, and therefore more effective standards. However, there is a lack of information on farmer’s preferences, both in the academic literature as well as with the certification programs themselves. Based on conjoint analysis and interviews, this paper investigates the preferences of coffee smallholder farmers in Indonesia. The smallholders surveyed include farmers registered with global certification schemes (i.e. Rainforest Alliance, Utz certified, and 4C), a local certification scheme (Inofice) and uncertified farmers. Results indicate that farmers in the different groups do not differ much in terms of their preferences. Moreover, although farmers value environmental conservation, their preferences regarding certification are mainly economically driven. This leads us to conclude that sustainability certification of coffee is only weakly institutionalized in the farmer’s context.
Highlights
Sustainability certification has been introduced as new governance model since the mid-1990s and regulates food production in Southern countries (Glasbergen, 2013)
Most coffee certification schemes are developed by Northern-based businesses and NGOs to regulate the production of coffee in the South
Voluntary and private certification initiatives we can distinguish local certification schemes (e.g. initiated by other actors like farming agencies (Inofice) certification in Indonesia) and public certifications schemes (e.g. ISCoffee, which was initiated by the Indonesian Ministry of Agriculture in 2013)
Summary
Sustainability certification has been introduced as new governance model since the mid-1990s and regulates food production in Southern countries (Glasbergen, 2013). Regarding coffee certification there are numerous global certification schemes, including Rainforest alliance, UTZ certified, 4C, Organic, Fairtrade, and Smithsonian Bird Friendly. To these global, voluntary and private certification initiatives we can distinguish local certification schemes (e.g. Inofice certification in Indonesia) and public certifications schemes (e.g. ISCoffee, which was initiated by the Indonesian Ministry of Agriculture in 2013). Voluntary and private certification initiatives we can distinguish local certification schemes (e.g. Inofice certification in Indonesia) and public certifications schemes (e.g. ISCoffee, which was initiated by the Indonesian Ministry of Agriculture in 2013) All these standards have in common that they attempt to cover the entire value chain from farmer to consumer (Giovannucci & Ponte, 2005) and that their impacts on farmer’s livelihoods are heavily debated
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
