GPSNR Working Groups Update: August 2021

Share This Post

It’s been a month of progress! Here are the updates from each working group:

Strategy and Objectives Working Group

While the working group did not meet this month, they are focussed on finalising the Theory of Change and organising a workshop for the same in September. The group will also continue to work on refining the platform’s external partnerships approval process. 

Smallholder Representation Working Group

After a successful onboarding workshop for Indonesian smallholders, the group is welcoming new smallholder members at GPSNR. They are also planning  similar workshops for smallholders in Srilanka and Cambodia in September. Workshops in India, Liberia, Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana are also being kept in view and will be scheduled as soon as the COVID-19 situation allows.

At the same time, the smallholders will meet to discuss GPSNR’s agroforestry position next month (in tandem with the Capacity Building Working Group). 

Policy Toolbox Working Group

This working group has received draft documents from consultants on three significant aspects of the GPSNR assurance model: the Implementation Guidance, the Reporting Requirements and the Compliance Panel Guidance. 

They are currently focussed on finalising the reporting requirements. For this, they need members to send in their feedback by 30th August. If you haven’t yet done so, please take a look at the form here. This will make it possible for us to vote on the Reporting Requirements by the General Assembly in December 2021. 

The group is also busy revising and finalising the Implementation Guidance, which will be voted on at the General Assembly in early 2021. 

Capacity Building Working Group

The group has completed an initial review of documents on agroforestry, and will now initiate a task force to develop a position on agroforestry. If you are interested in being part of the task force, please contact Aidan and Si Yuan at aidan@gpsnr.org and yeo.siyuan@gpsnr.org respectively. 

They are also starting a national capacity building subgroup in Thailand after Michelin pledged funding for key projects in the country. Should you be interested in joining this subgroup, you can also write to Aidan and Si Yuan! 

Traceability and Transparency Working Group

This working group is currently finalising the definition and acceptable levels of traceability for GPSNR and developing data collection and reporting standards together with the Policy Toolbox working group.

Shared Responsibility Working Group

As a step forward on the discussion about the long term financial model, the group has discussed the preliminary concept of a rubber trust fund. It is now seeking inputs to refine and further develop the foundations of thel model.

More To Explore

News

Smallholders Representation Working Group Update – September 2019

In the August newsletter we have informed you that we will organize smallholders workshop in 5 different countries with the primary objectives of:

  1. Understanding the local needs and motivations of the smallholder farmers;
  2. Understanding and recommending solutions to the barriers for smallholders and their representative organizations to join and actively participate in the GPSNR;
  3. Observing and explaining the interaction and chemistry between farmers and representative organizations.

Now we are proud to tell you that we are ready to launch the first smallholders workshop in Jambi, Indonesia on October 7th – 9th. 20 smallholders and smallholder representative organizations that have been nominated by several local partners on the ground such as SNV, WWF Indonesia, Kirana Megatara, etc. will meet up in Jambi with various categories of GPSNR working group members to further explore the future of sustainable natural rubber production.  The participants from GPSNR side is limited to 6 persons to ensure the discussions are organically contributed by smallholders.

The 3 days workshop will start with self introduction, understanding each other, understanding the current and future trends of rubber market.  It will spread out to what the platform is and how the platform can work for and with smallholders to create a win-win solution.

Four more workshops to be organized this year after Indonesia will be held in Thailand, Vietnam, Cote d’Ivoire and Brazil.  After the 5 workshops are finished, we will recommend the smallholder representations to the Executive Committee during the General Assembly in March 2020.

Stay tuned for the dates and venues of the upcoming workshops. For more information please contact kobrat@gpsnr.org.

News

GPSNR Working Groups Update: June 2022

Here are all their updates from the last month:

Strategy and Objectives Working Group

For the strategy and objectives working group, the development of the assurance model will be on priority for the next few months. To this end, they have finalised the draft terms of reference for an Assurance Model taskforce, which will be presented to the Executive Committee in their next meeting. Once approved, recruitment will begin extensively. The risk subgroup is also finalizing a document to be shared with the Executive Committee for their feedback.

Smallholder Representation Working Group

The group has submitted a resolution ahead of the July 22 General Assembly to restructure smallholder membership within GPSNR to enhance active participation. You can take a look at it in the GA Booklet here. In the next few months, they will begin planning smallholder workshops in Malaysia while also working on the smallholder policy equivalent. In case you missed it, they have also published an RFP recently to pilot agroforestry workshops for smallholders. Find it here. Preparations for a workshop for smallholders in Malaysia have also begun, which would be held in Q3 of 2022.

Policy Toolbox Working Group

In the last month, the group has finalised two major resolutions presented to the July General Assembly – one on the implementation guidance and the other on the disclosure requirements for year one reporting. Take a look here. Additionally, they have also finalised the guidance and templates for reporting for manufacturers and end users. If you are an end user or manufacturer who has not yet received the guidance and/or the templates, please write to the secretariat at info@gpsnr.org

For the next couple of months, the working group will be busy with finalising the operational guidance for the compliance panel and will continue conversations on the transparent reporting roadmap for years 2 and 3.

Capacity Building Working Group

After the kick-off of the GAPs coaching project in Indonesia with SNV and Koltiva, the group is  busy in the development of GPSNR’s knowledge sharing platform, which includes smallholder interviews, compiling and assessing responses of member surveys and holding focus group discussions. At the same time, they are working on advancing Capacity Building plans for Indonesia, Thailand and Côte d’Ivoire. 

They have also published two key RFPs for capacity building projects in Indonesia: one on disease fighting and the other on the provision of certified planting materials.

Shared Responsibility Working Group

The Shared Responsibility working group has prepared the Shared Responsibility framework resolution ahead of the GA, which you can read here

Scroll to Top