GPSNR Working Groups Update: October 2020

What a month it has been! Here is a deep dive into working groups’ updates and progress:

Strategy and Objectives Working Group

With the finalisation of the Environmental risk assessment of natural rubber production and processing study, this working group has reviewed over 300 pages of environmental risks in the production and processing roles in the natural rubber supply chain. Additionally, the group also identified 16 countries as GPSNR priority production countries. Most importantly, the report covers outcomes and recommendations to mitigate these risks. While you can find the full report here, the co-chairs of the working group will soon be hosting a webinar to take members through the key recommendations and findings. Stay tuned!

The group has also worked on the first draft of the GPSNR Theory of Change, a complex yet interesting piece of work which fits in various pieces of the GPSNR puzzle. You can find it here. A Theory of Change workshop is also being planned on 5th August from 7-10pm SGT. Should you be interested in joining, please write to the secretariat. 

Smallholder Representation Working Group 

Due to the COVID-19 situation in Cambodia and India, the smallholder representation working group has had to postpone onboarding workshops for smallholders in the two countries that were planned for June 2021. 

These workshops would be the first onboarding after the recent smallholder satisfaction survey, and will take into account its key findings. You can read more about the survey and its results in the May 2021 newsletter here. 

The working group has also identified Sri Lanka and Liberia as two new countries for GPSNR outreach and will initiate strategies around the same, and have began outreach to new smallholders in existing countries (Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Ghana and Ivory Coast)

The second Smallholders International Call of 2021 was also held on 24 June, where smallholder representatives shared and discussed key Working Group updates, as well as the newly-launched GPSNR Grievance Mechanism.

Policy Toolbox Working Group 

After 12 focus group calls and corresponding surveys for the Implementation Guidance and Reporting Requirements, this working group is now finalising these two crucial pieces of work. At the same time, the group is also working on refining and finalising the development of the Compliance Panel operations guidance with an experienced consultant. 

Capacity Building Working Group 

The group is preparing to rollout a call for funding for immediate capacity building needs in Thailand, Indonesia and the Ivory Coast next month. The Ivory Coast and Indonesia national capacity building country subgroups are also preparing to initiate capacity building activities on the ground and these activities could commence from July onwards.

At the same time, the working group is editing and finalising a document on Good Agricultural Practices for all GPSNR capacity building activities. 

Traceability and Transparency Working Group

In collaboration with the Policy Toolbox working group, the Traceability and Transparency working group is developing data collection and reporting standards. The working group also provided draft text on the traceability elements of the Implementation Guidance and will review the feedback received through the focus group surveys.

Shared Responsibility Working Group

After finalising a first round discussion of the problem statements for the natural rubber supply chain, the group has aligned these problem statements with root cause analysis for lack of equity in the supply chain. It has also conducted discussions with different member categories to propose viable solutions. 

The group is now working on proposing potential solutions based on these discussions and will soon present updates to the GPSNR executive committee.

Strategy and Objectives Working Group

The Working Group has received several bids in response to the Request for Proposal (RFP) for a study on environmental impacts, and risks, in the natural rubber value chain that was published in November. The Working Group has shortlisted three candidates and, as part of the evaluation process, will be conducting with these candidates in January 2021 before awarding the bid to the successful candidate. 

The Working Group is also starting on the Theory of Change document update, an exercise which will involve all other Working Groups. This will take place in January 2021. The Equity sub-Group is preparing summary documents for the living income studies and is planning to present the studies to GPSNR members in early 2021.

‘Policy Toolbox’ Working Group

The Working Group has finalized the Baseline Reporting Requirements and these will go to the Executive Committee for review. The Working Group is also developing a Request for Proposal for a consultant to work on the implementation guidance and reporting requirements.

‘Capacity Building’ Working Group

Since the last update, the Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) Task Force has had their first kickoff call and is beginning the work to identify and/or refine guiding principles for GAPs appropriate for the sustainable production of natural rubber.

The Working Group is also engaging the Executive Committee on their comments regarding the proposed capacity building strategies for four focus countries.

‘Traceability and Transparency’ Working Group

In early December, the Working Group onboarded smallholders from Indonesia and Côte d’Ivoire into the group, with the smallholders participating in their first meeting on 10 December. 

Aside from reviewing the Working Group’s Terms of Reference (ToR) and its objectives moving forward, the Working Group will also be starting to develop recommendations for members on traceability and transparency tools in early 2021.

Smallholder Representation Working Group

The revised ToR for the Working Group is undergoing a final review, following which it will be sent to the Executive Committee for approval. 

The Working Group has also formalised a document that defines the role and key tasks of a Country Champion. So far, Country Champions have been actively involved in organizing and arranging national calls, supporting smallholder engagement, and providing technical and linguistic assistance.   

As part of the Working Group’s revamp, it will be undergoing a membership refresh. Part of this will also involve smallholders being onboarded into the Working Group in 2021.  The Working Group is also looking into onboarding smallholders from Cambodia. Any GPSNR members who have operations in Cambodia or partners working in Cambodia who can help to identify potential smallholders for an onboarding workshop are welcome to reach out to the Working Group’s Co-Chairs, Ulrich Antoni and Julian Oram.