Bonsucro Report FINAL DEC 17, 2019.Pdf
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Contents Executive Summary .................................................................................................................................4 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 10 1.1 About Bonsucro and the Bonsucro Production Standard ............................................................ 12 1.2 Geographic Focus ........................................................................................................................ 14 1.3 Certification and Social Auditing ................................................................................................ 15 2. Methodology ................................................................................................................................. 18 2.1 Overview ..................................................................................................................................... 18 2.2 ISEAL Requirements .................................................................................................................. 20 2.3 Research Questions ..................................................................................................................... 21 2.4 Data Collection ............................................................................................................................ 23 2.5 Research Limitations ................................................................................................................... 26 2.6 Our Approach to Evaluating Impact ........................................................................................... 28 2.6.1 Working with Bonsucro’s Theory of Change (ToC) ............................................................ 30 3. Geographic Context....................................................................................................................... 32 3.1 Bonsucro in India ........................................................................................................................ 33 3.2 Multinational Buyers ................................................................................................................... 34 3.3 Human Rights Issues in India’s Sugarcane Sector ...................................................................... 35 3.4 Land Reform and Labor Laws in India ....................................................................................... 37 3.4.1. Land Reform ....................................................................................................................... 37 3.4.2. Labor Laws .......................................................................................................................... 38 4. Human Rights Provisions in the Standard ..................................................................................... 40 5. Fieldwork Findings ....................................................................................................................... 43 5.1 Mill Level .................................................................................................................................... 45 5.1.1 Motivation for Pursuing the Standard .................................................................................. 45 5.1.2 Comparison of “Bonsucro Mills” with Other Private Mills and Co-operatives ................... 45 5.1.3 Outcomes of Bonsucro Certification: Mill Level ................................................................. 46 5.1.4 Mill Strategy for Farm Level Implementation: Selecting Farmers for Certification ........... 47 5.1.5 Farm Level Challenges ......................................................................................................... 51 5.2 Farm Level .................................................................................................................................. 53 5.2.1 Certification Awareness ....................................................................................................... 53 5.2.2 Farm Level Impact ............................................................................................................... 55 5.2.3 Farm Operations ................................................................................................................... 58 1 6. Recommendations ......................................................................................................................... 70 6.1 Verification of Compliance ......................................................................................................... 70 Auditing Review, Auditor Selection, and Training ....................................................................... 70 Grievance Mechanisms ................................................................................................................. 71 Lower-Level Mill Field Staff ........................................................................................................ 72 6.2 Human Rights Alignment of the Standards ................................................................................. 72 Impact Assessments ...................................................................................................................... 73 Land Rights ................................................................................................................................... 74 Labor Rights .................................................................................................................................. 74 “Obey the Law” Criterion ............................................................................................................. 77 6.3 Improving the Platform for Change ............................................................................................ 78 The Farm Diary ............................................................................................................................. 78 Selection of Farmers to be Certified.............................................................................................. 78 Training for Collectives/Co-operatives ......................................................................................... 79 The Value Proposition of Certification ......................................................................................... 79 Domestic Buyers ........................................................................................................................... 79 Aligning Sustainable Sugarcane Standards ................................................................................... 80 7. Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................... 81 Appendix 1: Timeline of Bonsucro’s Interventions in India ................................................................. 85 Appendix 2: The Politics of Sugarcane in India .................................................................................... 88 State-Controlled Prices ...................................................................................................................... 88 Water Shortage .................................................................................................................................. 90 Challenges Facing the Indian Sugarcane Sector ............................................................................... 91 Appendix 3: Adapting the Bonsucro 2017 Theory of Change Detailed Methodology ......................... 93 Appendix 4: Stakeholder Interviews ..................................................................................................... 99 Appendix 5: Questionnaires ................................................................................................................ 100 Endnotes .............................................................................................................................................. 118 2 About the Business and Human Rights Clinic The Business and Human Rights Clinic is a year-long course offered at the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), Columbia University, which is designed to deepen student knowledge and experience of business and human rights through practice. Combining seminars, guest lectures, group work, and site visits, the Clinic is an interdisciplinary space for experimenting with new business and human rights methods and tools, carried out in partnership with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other practitioners. The following students comprised the Clinic team for 2018-2019 that carried out the research for this report: Ana Perez Adroher, Shabnam Aslam, Anindita Chakraborty, Keri Lloyd, Sarah Johnson, and Jenise Ogle. Joanne Bauer, Adjunct Professor of International Affairs at SIPA and Clinic Faculty Lead, supervised the research and revised this report for publication. The Business and Human Rights Clinic is jointly sponsored by Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) and Institute for the Study of Human Rights (ISHR). Acknowledgements The Clinic is grateful to the mills, farmers, farm and mill workers, and other stakeholders who took the time to speak with us, as well as to Bonsucro’s leadership for the opportunity to conduct this research and for their support and cooperation throughout the process. Appendix 4 contains a list of organizations and individuals who participated in this