March 25th 2024

Certification Management Committee (CMC) decisions

From CMC to SOAR

Exciting news: As we operationalize the Staircase Model in our 2030 Strategy the Certification Management Committee (CMC) evolves into the Staircase Oversight and Advisory Roundtable (SOAR). Starting April 4^th, SOAR will convene regularly to oversee the coordinated execution of, and advise on design, implementation and planning for the Staircase and improvements in our offerings. It will:

•       Drive information sharing, learning and ideation between and beyond RA departments contributing to the Staircase.

•       Assess risks and opportunities, act as sounding board, support problem-solving and advise on decisions by decision makers as per the RACI of the respective offering.

•       Provide advise and oversight to enrich/validate work of implementation teams, ensure alignment, and break open silos.

This will lead to improved coordination across offerings and achieve an effective articulation of the steps in the staircase to meet producers where they are and allow them to progress.

During this last CMC meeting, we thanked all those contributing to the CMC since August ’21 for the critical, constructive and sometimes difficult discussions that shaped the CMC into the cross-departmental platform that proved so instrumental in landing the 2020 Certification Program.

We also welcomed the new SOAR participants, who span those departments critical to landing the Staircase:

•       Our rotating chairs: Director Frameworks and Landscapes (Virginia Foster), Director, Innovation (Karen Reijnen) and Director, Product Development (Salman Balouch). Sharely and Alison will support them in setting the agenda with the teams developing the staircase offerings.

•       From Data and Tech: Ruth Newsome, Silke Robeller, Nicole Cramer, Mark Cornwall

•       From Programs: Ria Stout, Conrado Guinea, Olivier de Vos, Claudia Medrano, James Lael-Allotey, Kwame Osei, Michelle Deugd, Director Livelihoods and Human Rights (TBH), Celia Harvey, Henk van Rikxoort, Marie Vallee, Robbie Hogervorst, and last but not least one of our Regional Directors – rotating on a quarterly basis - starting with Miguel Laporta

•       From CE&P and MarComm: Paula Quazi, Mercedes Tallo, Emilie Ortolina, Alexandra Dawe, Tina Lippstreu

•       From Innovation: Isabel Lledo

The ToR and scope, set-up and membership will be evaluated in July 2024. For further questions please do not hesitate to reach out to your department head or director.

Key updates

EUDR monitoring report released

The EUDR monitoring report was published on 20th of March. It shows the Farm CH and SCA opt-ins in the EUDR offering. You can check it out in this PowerBI report.

Please reach out to Daphne Hernandez Quintana for more information.

Upcoming events

Rainforest Alliance is invited to the Roundtable Event for tea in Kenya on Harnessing the power of multi-stakeholder collaboration to promote decent work and address the root causes of Sexual and Gender-based Violence and Harassment (SGBVH) in the tea sector. The event takes place on the 18th April in Nairobi. Please reach out to Lisa Ryser.

Rainforest Alliance is hosting a multi-stakeholder event in Abidjan on 3rd April to discuss the cocoa certification program in Côte d'Ivoire. During this workshop, we will have the opportunity:

• To discuss the Rainforest Alliance certification process in Ivory Coast and make proposals for its improvement.

• To inform each other about the various certification issues in Côte d’Ivoire and the latest news.

• To discuss the contribution of the Rainforest Alliance certification program to the implementation of the European Regulation against deforestation and forest degradation (EUDR)

Invited to this workshop:

• The Conseil du Café-cacao (CCC)

• Private sector actors in the supply chain (Exporters, processors, chocolate companies)

• Members of the RA Associated Trainers Network

• Certification bodies

• Certificate holders

Please reach out to Zenab Diarrassouba.

Certification Media Coverage

There are a bunch of new publications related to certification in the news:

• Mongabay: Article about climate change and tea with quotes from Christopher Whitebread and Madhuri Nanda: https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/climate-change-brews-trouble-for-tea-industry-but-circular-solutions-await/

• Food Navigator: Article about the rumors around the EU delaying its EUDR deadline with quotes from Michelle Deugd: https://www.foodnavigator.com/Article/2024/03/19/Will-EU-delay-EUDR-deadline

• Metro: Article about AI applications in conservation with quotes from Michelle Deugd: https://metro.co.uk/2024/03/16/ai-isnt-going-destroy-planet-likely-save-20465883/?ico=mosaic_tag

• The Cool Down: Article about cocoa and climate change with quotes from Kwame Osei:  https://www.thecooldown.com/green-tech/cocoa-farming-africa-deforestation-death/

Note our directory of media pieces which includes descriptions for each of the articles. Please reach out to Darla van Hoorn for more information.

New content published