Stakeholders and the Turning Tide; the need for a paradigm shift in the certification movement

The definition of stakeholder engagement within the ethical certification movement seems to limit the flow of power from the global 'North' to the global 'South,' could this tide be turning?

Stakeholder engagement is a hot topic in the field of ethical certification. Fair Trade's definition of stakeholder engagement revolves around companies working with marginalized producers and workers to help them move from a position of vulnerability to security and economic self-sufficiency.

Sounds fair enough, but does power need to be 'given' to stakeholders to ensure greater equity in international trade, or are they taking it for themselves?

The traditional definition of stakeholder engagement in the certification movement demonstrates an antiquated understanding of the main stakeholders. In this view, the producer is an isolated, uniformed and impoverished individual and the certified company is an organization with an underlying belief in justice and solidarity, backed by ethically-motivate consumers.

This may have been true when companies such as Equal Exchange pioneered the movement by connecting with small producers in the field. However, today the picture is very different.

Today, the 'benevolent' companies are the Tescos and Walmarts of the world with controlling market power due to the large volume of certified products that they are able to purchase. It is the demand of these large vendors that is driving, and some say corrupting, the certification movement. For example, plantations were previously excluded from certification because the hierarchical structure was seen to limit control over one's own livelihood. However, today's mainstream demand for certified goods has allowed for validation of the plantation structure.

The impoverished and isolated producer smiling at us from the corners of ethically certified product packaging is similarly changed. Today, the producer is likely to live in thriving entrepreneurial societies in India, China and Ghana. Armed with vast resource and internet and mobile technology these producers are innovating new market structures and empowering their own livelihoods.

This blogger sees a turning tide. Consumers of certified goods will no longer be concentrated in the global North but will increasingly be found in Southern countries. These rising middle classes will bring new values and demands to certification and will have the power to ensure their voices are heard. Producers will continue to form increasingly powerful bodies and will regulate certification from within their own countries rather than receiving standard requirements from across oceans.

Some certifying bodies are already innovating along these shifting lines while others are mired in antiquated notions of stakeholder engagement. How will these trends develop and which certification bodies and brands will be leaders in innovating new models? Join in the discussion at www.theinsource.com.