GPSNR Working Groups Update: December 2021

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What a year! All our working groups successfully overcame the challenges of remote working and time-zone coordination, while moving the needle on sustainability in natural rubber. Here are their updates for December 2021:

Strategy and Objectives Working Group

The group has finalized the Theory of change, which is currently in the process of being designed for public communications. They have also published the Environmental Risk Study, which can be found here.  Currently, the group is working on developing the RFP for the Economic Risk Study, which will be published and worked on in 2022. The group is also working on developing next steps for itself based on the finalized Theory of Change.

Smallholder Representation Working Group

In 2021, the working group onboarded 39 new smallholders at GPSNR. In 2022, they will be focussing on mapping out the possibility of smallholder onboarding workshops in Columbia, Ghana, Liberia and Malaysia, which are countries with a relatively lower representation of smallholders within GPSNR. From January 2022, they will also be busy with developing a Smallholders Policy Framework. 

Policy Toolbox Working Group

The group saw a major milestone in the approval of the reporting requirements at the 2021 General Assembly. In 2022, they will be busy developing guidance for thereporting requirements and a transparency roadmap before the reporting cycle begins in mid-2022. At the same time, the group continues to refine the Implementation Guidance before the General Assembly of 2022. 

Capacity Building Working Group

The group recently hosted a webinar on GPSNR’s Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) before the 2021 General Assembly, and published two RFPs for the assessment of the Knowledge Sharing Platform and GAP coaching for Indonesia respectively. In the next few months, it will focus on kickstarting the Thailand national sub-working group, advancing agroforestry implementation plans for GPSNR as well continuing to advance capacity building implementation in Indonesia and Ivory Coast. 

Traceability and Transparency Working Group

The Traceability and Transparency working group has requested members’ input on the traceability benchmark and will work on refining it based on the feedback received. You can take a look at the draft benchmark here and give your feedback here before 31st December. 

Shared Responsibility Working Group

The working group has discussed and explored solutions to address the root causes identified for each of the three focus areas of Shared Responsibility. It has also identified a consultant to support the development of a shared responsibility framework. In 2022, the group will draft activities and framework for Shared Responsibility for integration into other processes such as the Implementation Guidance and align with other working groups. 

 

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Strategy and Objectives Working Group

The S&O Working Group has received inputs to the platform Theory of Change from the Smallholders Representation, Capacity Building, and Traceability and Transparency Working Groups. A task team from the S&O Working Group will now work to synthesize these different contributions into a single document. This compiled Theory of Change template will then be developed into the platform Theory of Change through a workshop which will involve representatives from all the working groups.

The Equity Sub-Working Group completed a summary of the Living Income studies that the platform commissioned in 2021 and presented the summary through a webinar. The Equity Sub-Working Group will now work to develop recommendations on how GPSNR can address priority risks and boost equity in the value chain.

‘Policy Toolbox’ Working Group

The Policy Toolbox Working Group has selected a combined consultant team of Proforest and Are We There Yet to lead the development of the Implementation Guidance for GPSNR. The development is expected to be a consultative process that concludes with a set of draft guidance that will be ready by July 2021.

To facilitate consultation on the Implementation Guidance, the Working Group will set up category-specific focus groups that members are encouraged to join. The focus groups will meet twice to review the draft guidance and provide feedback and inputs to improve the document. Each focus group is only expected to meet twice and members are only required to spend a few hours before each meeting reviewing the draft documents. The focus groups will be set up in the following manner:

Focus Group 1
Growers
Traders of Raw Materials

Focus Group 2
Processors
Traders of Processed material

Focus Group 3
Tire makers and other manufacturers

Focus Group 4
End users (incl. car makers and other downstream stakeholders).

In line with the assessment of policy documents against the policy framework, the Secretariat has collated company policy documents that were submitted and will proceed to review the policy documents submitted for review. The Secretariat has received responses from all 29 ordinary member companies that were required to submit documents and will spend the next month assessing the submissions.

‘Capacity Building’ Working Group

The Capacity Building Working Group has created three separate task forces that will work on working group tasks. The first task force will focus on developing mechanisms to measure impacts of capacity building activities, the second task force will develop a strategy to attract and recognize GPSNR members’ funding of capacity building activities, and the final task force will develop systems to ensure that the national sub-groups tasked with implementing capacity building activities in each country remain aligned with the broader working group. In addition to the Good Agricultural Practices Task Force, the Working Group now has four Task Forces that will work to deliver on their tasks in the coming months.

‘Traceability and Transparency’ Working Group

The Traceability and Transparency Working Group will continue to meet in its sub-groups to develop recommendations on minimum benchmarks for traceability tools and data sharing in the platform. With the submission of the Working Group’s input to the Theory of Change, the Working Group is pleased to announce that its first sub-group has completed the assigned tasking and will no longer meet.

Smallholder Representation Working Group

The Smallholder Representation Working Group has now onboarded smallholders from Indonesia and Vietnam into the Working Group. The Working Group has also divided into two groups within the working group. The first sub-working group will work to develop a strategy to onboard smallholders from countries that are not represented in GPSNR yet. The second group will work to deepen engagement with smallholders who are already members of the platform and also develop strategies to improve representation among minority groups in countries that are already represented in GPSNR

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In attendance were farmers, processors, tire companies, apparel and footwear brands, NGOs and governmental representatives, all together over 100 participants. 

 The event offered a space for the diverse set of attendees to discuss the challenges and opportunities experienced by the rubber sector in the adoption and implementation of individual and global commitments to sustainable and ethical rubber with a focus on solutions. What set the workshop apart from the regular workshop we all know, was the addition of a field-excursion to two rubber-plantations operating under differing production models: a farm applying agro-forestry with a mix of native hardwoods and rubber trees and one fully developed diversified community agro-forestry farm. Additionally, instead of solely focusing on NGOs, companies and governmental representation (as the regular workshop often does), delegations from a number of farmer associations representing various countries also attended and provided key input to inform discussions from the farmer’s perspective.

Days 2 and 3 of the workshop were focused on forming partnerships and generating solutions to begin working towards a transformed natural rubber supply chain which delivers value to all actors from the farm to the end user.  Break out groups comprised of farmers, processors, brands, NGOs, tire companies and government representatives discussed topics such as traceability, policy implementation and capacity building for smallholders. Each break out group then categorized their discussions into short term actions, long term actions, barriers and learning curves which will be summarized into a collective call to action by the organizing team.  One of the most powerful outcomes was an overall agreement amongst all stakeholders in attendance that to truly bring about positive transformation we must all work together towards a shared vision.

A public summary of the event will be shared in the coming days, please contact Samantha Morrissey (smorrissey@ra.org) or Margaret Kran-Annexstein (margaret@mightyearth.org) with any questions.

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