Supply Chain Due Diligence
What’s on your mind
How can I extend the traceability of my supply chain to incorporate all kinds of farmers for a better monitoring and for having an impact on local circumstances?
Work Case
Enhancement of smallholders livelihood and productivity
Approach
MCS conducts the project in 4 basic steps:
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Baseline assessment
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Data collection
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Gap analysis, training & implementation of measures
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Monitoring & roll-out to whole supply chain
Overview
An Indonesian company is interested in the inclusion of smallholder farmers into their sustainably certified supply chain. Next to the certification of farmers, the company is interested in enhancing the productivity of farmers on already existing plantation areas to reach the following goals: increase farmers livelihood, receive larger quantities of raw material as well as reduce the pressure of farmers on natural resources.
The customer has asked Meo Carbon Solutions to support in the implementation of measures in order to reach the mentioned goals. The project will be structured in two phases: a pilot project regarding a small region and roll-out phase for the whole supply chain.
Step 1: Baseline assessment
MCS assesses in detail the supply chain of the company. In particular, focus is placed on collecting all available information on the supply chain of the company with special focus on the smallholder farmers. This is required in order to gain a full understanding of the status quo and define a pilot region where to start the project.
Step 2: Data collection
MCS collects farmer data in the pilot region using mobile applications and a cloud-based database to store the data. A Mapping App is implemented to collect all relevant farmer data (e.g. basic data, financial data), field data (e.g. crop type, yield, land right certificate), polygons of the fields and photos (ID card, land right certificate). All collected data is stored and assessed within the database and displayed in a user interface. After the collection of farmer data through the Mapping App, polygons are assessed against deforestation and overlap with areas with high biodiversity and carbon stock value. In addition, deliveries of crops between farmers and recipients (e.g. oil mills) can be digitally recorded using the Tracking App. The Tracking App provides valuable information regarding the actual harvested material and the possibility to monitor the development of the yield over time per farmer.
Please see below an exemplary figure of the traceability dashboard.
Step 3: Gap analysis, training & implementation of measures
Based on the results achieved in step 2, farmers are assessed in order to detect gaps in terms of, for example, productivity, application of good agricultural practices, market access, sustainability certification, replanting. Once an overview of the gaps is prepared per farmer, they can be clustered per specific need and ad hoc trainings can be conducted with the farmers on-site. MCS organizes trainings following the train-the-trainer concept. Trainings focus on the specific needs of the farmers and on the implementation of good agricultural practices. Once trainings are conducted, a general program for the implementation of measures can be developed. Based on the data collected in step 2 and the detected needs, farmers can also be supported regarding financial access to implement good agricultural practices (e.g. finance to conduct replanting).
Step 4: Monitoring & roll-out across the whole supply chain
MCS supports the customer to monitor farms over time. Special focus is placed on yield improvement as a consequence of implemented good agricultural practices through the application of the Tracking App and the comparison of yields over time. Further, farmer fields are continuously monitored against new deforestation and overlap with areas with high biodiversity and carbon stock value within or in the close vicinity of the collected farmer polygons. Additionally, MCS supports the company in the roll-out of the project across the whole supply chain of the customer.
