Full text
| |
| Author(s): |
Roberto Hoffmann Palmieri
Total Authors: 1
|
| Document type: | Master's Dissertation |
| Press: | Piracicaba. |
| Institution: | Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALA/BC) |
| Defense date: | 2008-08-14 |
| Examining board members: |
Gerd Sparovek;
Rozely Ferreira dos Santos;
Maria Célia Martins de Souza
|
| Advisor: | Gerd Sparovek |
| Abstract | |
The impact of certification was this research project´s major focus, which consisted of the identification of the effect of certification over interest variables, isolated from other sources of variation. Specifically in this dissertation, an impact assessment methodology was adapted and tested to analyze the impact of Rainforest Alliance socioenvironmental certification scheme, utilized by the Sustainable Agriculture Network - SAN (in Portuguese, RAS), in coffee plantations located in Minas Gerais State, Brazil. Socio-environmental certification has increased significantly in coffee-producing farms in Brazil, as well as worldwide, since its creation in 1998 up to 2007. Commercialized products with this type of certification carry a message that they are rooted in production systems which promote greater human development and biodiversity conservation values when compared to conventional systems. However, the socio-environmental certification process does not currently measure these differences in a direct way. During certification procedures, an auditor assesses whether production systems are accomplishing pre-established standards. The absence of impact assessments might raise doubts regarding real transformations provoked by certification. Another doubt relates to the establishment of such standards, which were elaborated in public meetings among interested parties that established a reference about what is desirable according to each participants perception. These stakeholders, in a given moment or context, may have emphasized some particular aspects without clarifying which of the problems of the conventional systems they intended to solve. Moreover, changes might occur in the conduct or paradigms of conventional systems which can affect decisions made in public meetings. As part of this projects objective, it was intended to obtain a reference for production systems with and without certification, to subsidize the establishment of standards and to guide auditing procedures. The impact assessment method utilized was based on comparing certified and non-certified agricultural enterprises in such a way as to obtain a non-factual scenario, in other words, what would occur in the certified enterprises if, hypothetically, they had not been targeted by certification. The sample consisted of sixteen agricultural enterprises in Brazil. Results were generated through quantitative analyses of primary data gathered through interviews with farm workers and managers, satellite image analyses, and field observations. There technical issues selected to test the methodology were worker welfare, biodiversity preservation and water resource conservation, and pollution impact. Results indicate an important role of Socio-environmental Certification in promoting conservation of biodiversity and human development in the short and long run. Some analyzed aspects did not present impacts, however, and some impacts presented a differentiated response in different regions. The methodology used was concluded to be suitable for identifying certification impacts and for defining a reference to substantially contribute to building standards, as well as guide auditors´ work in such a way as to increase the contribution of socio-environmental certification to biodiversity conservation and human development. (AU) | |