A Number of Ways to Measure Progress

Every day, we’re bombarded with new numbers that claim to measure the country’s economic health and financial stability. While this data is useful, no single figure tells the full story. Similarly, the Rainforest Alliance understands that when we assess a farm’s social, environmental and economic performance, we must look beyond the numbers and delve into many different facets of how a business is managed.

Product Prices

Take the prices of products, for example. The certification standard established by the Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN) — a coalition of nonprofit organizations coordinated by the Rainforest Alliance — has never set minimum prices for bananas, coffee beans or other products cultivated on certified farms.

Prices are certainly important — in fact, Rainforest Alliance Certified™ farms often generate significantly higher prices for their crops. But a system that focuses primarily on pricing misses out on a number of other critical elements that influence whether or not a farmer can lift himself out of poverty. For example, price-based systems depend on the willingness of customers to pay premiums for certified products. But this approach is of little use to farmers who are not lucky enough to have such customers.

Rather than emphasizing price, Rainforest Alliance certification works to improve the entire spectrum of farming practices. A farmer’s success depends on crop quality, productivity and efficiency as well as sales price, which is why we address all four areas. We teach farmers to grow smart, increase their bottom line and conserve their soils and natural resources, all of which empowers them to become better business people and gives them more control over their futures.

Worker Wages

A “living wage” is another figure that can be difficult to pin down, as it depends on average regional wages, working conditions and other variables — nonetheless, it’s often used as a means of assessing worker well-being. The SAN standard requires that workers be paid at least the legal minimum wage and receive full rights and benefits. As part of the Rainforest Alliance certification process, SAN auditors collect information about salaries (including non-monetary benefits such as housing and medical care) and ensure that work hours are regulated, overtime is voluntary and compensated, and workers receive health and safety training, among other criteria. The SAN also collaborates with unions and other associations to ensure that workers have a voice in determining their salaries through a fair negotiation process.

Wage figures and prices can help measure progress, but they’re only part of the equation — that’s why Rainforest Alliance certification seeks to address the full spectrum of social, environmental and economic issues tied to poverty.

Better-Quality Coffee — and More of It

From our time spent in farming communities throughout the tropics, we’ve seen firsthand how the Rainforest Alliance Certified™ program positively impacts small farmers, but now a new report has independently confirmed our experiences, demonstrating that Rainforest Alliance Certified coffee farms surpass their peers in a variety of ways.

Ruerd Ruben and Guillermo Zuniga of Radboud University Nijmegen in the Netherlands conducted an extensive field survey of 315 small coffee producers in the Las Segovias region of Northern Nicaragua. Their study compared Rainforest Alliance Certified farms to those that produce coffee under other standards as well as to a control group of independent coffee farmers. Entitled “How Standards Compete: Comparative Impact of Coffee Certification in Northern Nicaragua,” the August 2010 report found that Rainforest Alliance Certified farms had higher production yields and produced better-quality coffee beans, which allowed farmers to generate higher incomes overall.

More than 30,000 Nicaraguan farmers cultivate coffee, and roughly 150,000 rural families are involved in coffee harvesting. The overwhelming majority of these farmers manage family enterprises of less than 8.6 acres (3.5 hectares), and coffee creates almost one-third of Nicaragua’s total rural employment.

The study’s authors found that the standard established by the Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN) — the international coalition of conservation groups that jointly manages Rainforest Alliance certification — devotes greater attention to ecological production systems, water and nature conservation and the maintenance of local biodiversity and wildlife. The report also noted that the SAN standard does not permit the expansion of farms (which often results in forest destruction) and focuses instead on increasing productivity and implementing efficient ecological production systems.

According to the study, Rainforest Alliance Certified farms:

• Were less dependent solely on coffee and maintained a more diversified income, which helped farmers finance the investments necessary to improve production processes.
• Produced 20 to 40 percent higher yields per unit of land.
• Achieved considerably higher coffee-quality averages.
• Sold a larger percentage of their coffee at a premium price and received a higher average price overall – due in part to management strategies on the farm.
• Demonstrated a greater level of involvement by women in both coffee production and household decision-making.
• Had households with a higher education level and a somewhat smaller family size.

Learn more about Rainforest Alliance Certified coffee.

What’s below the Green Frog Seal?

If you buy products like coffee or tea that have our favorite little green frog on the package, you may also see a note under the seal that says something like: “at least 30 percent certified content.” So what does that mean? Well, it means a lot to farmers and their families. Here’s why:

• We believe that we can increase the on-the-ground impacts of our work with farmers — bring more land under sustainable management, expand healthcare and other benefits to more workers, improve livelihoods in more communities and conserve more ecosystems — by engaging with companies of all sizes, including multi-nationals. It’s not easy for farmers to earn the Rainforest Alliance Certified seal, so the demand for certified crops like coffee and cocoa exceeds supply. Therefore, many companies that would like to sell 100 percent certified products just can’t yet. We are working as hard as we can with farmers to meet the growing demand, but when it comes to sustainable farming, we don’t want to take any shortcuts.
• The good news is that a large company that begins sourcing 30 percent of its supply from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms can have a huge positive impact on farmers’ lives and on the environment. (Do the math: 30 percent of 1,000 tons is substantially more than 100 percent of 100 tons.)
• We are committed to ensuring that companies scale up their commitments — regardless of how small or large they are at the outset. If a mainstream brand begins working with the Rainforest Alliance and our Sustainable Agriculture Network partners by sourcing, say, 40 percent of its coffee from certified farms, that brand must agree to source increasing quantities from certified farms as they become available.
• We believe in transparency. If a product includes less than 90 percent Rainforest Alliance Certified content, this must be clearly disclosed directly on-pack underneath the seal. Truth is, not all certification programs are as forthright. But we know how important it is for consumers to trust our little green frog. Allowing a business to market their commitment to using at least 30 percent of Rainforest Alliance Certified ingredients can increase demand for these sustainably grown goods — and that demand reverberates down the supply chain, from consumers right to farmers.

So don’t hesitate to reach for the frog seal. Your purchase of any product bearing the seal can have very real benefits for workers and wildlife around the globe.