Secretariat Update – July 2019

One of the key strategies identified by GPSNR to achieve our vision of a fair, equitable and environmentally sound natural rubber value chain is to ensure that there is capacity amongst smallholders and industrial plantations to adopt best practices in natural rubber production.  

In 2020, the Capacity Building Working Group, through various stakeholder interviews and Working Group discussions, proposed a set of country-specific capacity building activities for four countries as a start: Côte d’Ivoire, Indonesia, Myanmar and Thailand. In developing these strategies, the Working Group sought to first identify threats to the sustainable production of natural rubber within the different local contexts, as well as the underlying causes for these threats. From this initial research, the working group developed proposed capacity building actions, along with main objectives and rationales for each chosen action. The approach adopted by the Working Group in designing these actions is to allow for immediate engagement and implementation on the ground. 

Following the Executive Committee’s endorsement of the Working Group’s capacity building proposals, the Working Group will be conducting a sharing session for all GPSNR members, during which more details about each national capacity building strategy will be presented.

Recruiting Members to Capacity Building National Sub-Groups

Now that the capacity building strategies are in place, the Working Group is inviting interested GPSNR members to join the soon-to-be-created National Sub-Groups that will be mandated to oversee, guide and implement the national capacity building strategies and to promote GPSNR policies and initiatives.  

The development of the National Sub-Groups recognizes existing local capacity building initiatives in the rubber sector and their independence of GPSNR and aims to cooperate with local efforts and stakeholders to achieve mutually agreed outcomes.

The first draft of the “desired state” document has been shared with the Executive Committee in their monthly meeting in June for further consultation. To avoid overlooking any important steps and details necessary for the development of strategies and objectives, a terms of reference was also created by the Working Group and approved by the Executive Committee, defining the scope, objectives, and outcomes which will be enabled by the process. 

The completion of the “Theory of Change Workshop” in March, where the group met in Singapore to collaborate on building out “What Good Looks Like” when it comes to sustainable natural rubber, contributed to the start of the work on the “Theory of Change” for natural rubber, a process aimed at identifying the root causes for the current state of the natural rubber industry as well as identify the Key Strategies that the Working Group believes the platform should start working on. 

Currently, the Working Group is in the process of finalizing the recommendations for launching these strategies, including  timelines for implementation in 2019/2020. The focus for the next 6 months will be on launching and pursuing three main strategies: 1) Sustainability Policy Tool Box and Best Practices; 2) Capacity Building for Smallholders and Rubber Plantations to support the incorporation of more sustainable practices; 3) Improving Transparency and Traceability within the Natural Rubber Supply Chain. 

We would like to thank the members who participated and encourage all others to actively  participate in the Working Group’s undertakings. In order to meet the high expectations set for GPSNR, we need members to attend the meetings frequently, participate consistently, and contribute in a timely manner.