Four Years of Project Cultivar in Central America 

SAI's Program Associate Eliza Wright Meets with Project Cultivar Partners to Capture Impacts and Stories from the Field 

Workers at Finca Laguna Salada, a participating banana farm in the Dominican Republic   Project Cultivar at a Glance 3 participating countries: Dominican Republic, Honduras, Nicaragua 38 participating farms from the banana, melon, and sugarcane sector 2,195 workers and managers trained   283 Ministry of Labor inspectors and other government officials trained 45% of participating producers reported an increase in resolved grievances

SAI's Project Cultivar: Advancing Labor Rights in Agriculture, concluded on May 31, 2011 after four years in operation. Funded by the U.S. Department of Labor since June 2007, Project Cultivar aimed to promote a culture of compliance with labor laws in the agricultural sector of Central America and the Dominican Republic.  

Leveraging the local knowledge and relationships with diverse communities through partnerships, Cultivar succeeded in its goals to increase the knowledge, commitment and capacity of thousands of workers, managers, and government ministries to improve working conditions in the Dominican Republic, Honduras, and Nicaragua.

SAI's Program Associate Eliza Wright speaks with Marcial Mercedez Rosario, a member of the ACConsuelo- an association of 263 independent sugarcane producers- during a workshop in the Dominican Republic. Members of the ACConsuelo, convene for a meeting about sugarcane production and an overview about SAI's work in the Dominican Republic.

This article previews some of these stories of Project Cultivar's social impact, which will be reported in forthcoming issues of the newsletter and the Project Cultivar final  report:

Converting Word of Mouth into a Record-keeping System: Finca Laguna Salada, a banana farm from the Mao Valverde Province of the Dominican Republic, began participating in Project Cultivar in 2009.  Prior to the farm's participation in the Project, management received and processed complaints by word of mouth.  If a worker in the packaging facility needed a new pair of rubber boots, the supervisor was informed, but the management had no way of tracking if the problem was resolved, or even how often the problem occurred.   

Tracking this information could shed light on improvements and needs for the worker and the employer. The usefulness and procedures of such a record-keeping system was presented during Cultivar training sessions on complaints management systems. After receiving this training, Gonela Gue, Human Resources manager at Laguna Salada set up a process for registering complaints and tracking their number and progress. Mr. Gue reported to SAI that the implementation of this system has improved communication between management and workers at Finca Laguna Salada, resulting in a decrease in the number of complaints.

Support Structures for Independent Sugarcane Producers: The Asociaci�n de Colonos del Ingenio Consuelo (ACConsuelo), a producer's association of 263 independent sugarcane producers in the eastern region of the Dominican Republic, was founded on October 2, 1974 in the town of Consuelo.  ACConsuelo brings together sugarcane producers, traditionally called "colonos", and supports them in agricultural production. It assists producers in negotiations with local sugar mills on the contract price of harvesting and delivery of sugarcane, lending important inputs for production, e.g. tractors, and helping members gain access to credit and new markets.  

The vibrancy and cooperation of this organization is a new path for ACConsuelo. Prior to its involvement with Project Cultivar, the activities of the association had ground to a halt when the international demand for sugar declined in the 1980-1990s, and the nationalized sugar mills began to close-- sugarcane production and the work of the ACConsuelo waned in response.  Currently, production is on the rise due to factors such as increased import quotas from the United States and the European Union, and demand for biofuels and other sugarcane processing outputs. The need for the ACConsuelo has returned.  SAI and local partner Center for Cultural Research and Support (CIAC), based in the Dominican Republic, have supported ACConsuelo through Cultivar to strengthen the organization to help its producers improve  the historically precarious working conditions, and to become competitive in the ethical market place.

SAI's July issue of the newsletter will take a closer look at the ACConsuelo. 

For more information, contact Eliza Wright, Program Associate at Ewright@sa-intl.org.

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Parnership:  The Rapid Results Institute
The Rapid Results Institute is a non-profit organization dedicated to fostering results driven Experimentation, Achievement, and Learning as a way to tackle economic and social challenges in developing countries. It was founded with the support of senior partners at Schaffer Consulting, and its work is based on their highly successful models for change management and results acceleration in Fortune 500 corporations. The Institute builds local capability in developing countries to provide coaching support to leaders and teams interested in accelerated results and sustained impact.

Authorized Representative: The Cahn Group
The Cahn Group, LLC is a corporate responsibility consultancy dedicated to creating sound business practices that are consistent with societal needs and stakeholder expectations. Doug Cahn is the principal of The Cahn Group, LLC, and has been a corporate responsibility and public policy executive for nearly 30 years. During that time, he has implemented corporate programs that address supply chain labor standards, human rights, environment, government relations, community relations, advocacy and communications. Mr. Cahn is a pioneer in applying corporate codes of conduct to factories owned and operated by third parties in Asia, Central America and Eastern Europe. He currently serves as a member of the Advisory Board of the Fair Factories Clearinghouse, a member of the Board of Verit� and a member of the Advisory Board of GoodWeave.

Authorized Representative: Newport Consulting Group
Newport Consulting Group is an independent management consulting firm specializing in strategy, operations, risk management, and technology for commercial, public sector, not for profit, and high growth organizations. The firm maintains focused service offerings in market diversification and growth, enterprise performance, governance risk and compliance, program design and oversight, innovation management, and sustainability. William Newman is the Managing Principal of Newport Consulting Group and brings 25 years of experience in strategy and operations planning across multiple industry sectors. He is a Certified Management Consultant since 1995 and has led several consulting practices at Booz & Company, DMR Consulting, KPMG BearingPoint, and Grant Thornton. He is a member of the adjunct faculty at Northwood University, a participant in the University of Oregon Sustainability Leadership Program, and a member of the McKinsey Quarterly Executive Panel.  

For a full list of SAI Authorized Representatives, visit www.sa-intl.org/representatives For more information, contact Joleen Ong, Communications Manager at JOng@sa-intl.org.

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The Sustainability Lexicon Project: Wiki Open for Entries!

  CSR author and thought leader Deborah Leipziger leads project to foster clarity and consistency around language in the field of sustainability

 

Deborah Leipziger   Sustainability Lexicon Wiki   Submit your Definitions & Concepts  @bit.ly/jBTHFI

In May 2011, Deborah Leipziger, author of the Corporate Responsibility Code Book and SA8000: The First Decade, launched the  Sustainability Lexicon Project, which seeks to define key concepts and language in the field of sustainability to enhance corporate reporting an engagement.

 

The project will draw upon the work of various communities of practice, as well as the guidance of the Lexicon 100: a group of thought leaders and practitioners around the world who are coining new language and providing definitions and terms for the Lexicon. SAI is a founding partner of the Sustainability Lexicon project.  

 

The project has started through the creation of the Lexicon Wiki, and will continue through Fall 2011, with a release of a Handbook- Lexicon 1.0- at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development Rio+20 event in 2012.     

Click here to submit entries to the Sustainability Lexicon Wiki. For more information, contact Deborah Leipziger at dleipziger@gmail.com .  

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Meet SAI & SAAS' Summer Interns

We welcome our newest interns- Representing Wellesley College-- we are proud to introduce them, in their own words 

Lianna Lee: I am an economics major at Wellesley College with an interest in international development and humanitarian issues. I'm interning at SAI because I identify with its mission to promote labor rights and was impressed by its international platform. So far, I have enjoyed learning about its operations and ongoing projects. As I work with the communications department to increase the organization's visibility, I will also be conducting research for the staff and profiling the performance of SA8000^� certified facilities in China or Taiwan. Through my assignments and other experiences at SAI, I hope to gain a better understanding of the progress and the hurdles this organization faces in achieving its goals.

Aileen Patimeteeporn: I am a rising senior at Wellesley College majoring in Economics and minoring in Women and Gender Studies, interested in concentrating on human rights and development economics. I'm from Nashville, Tennessee and am excited to be at SAI and to spend the summer in New York City. After taking a couple of economic courses this past year, my interests have shifted towards human rights, more specifically workers' rights and labor standards, which led me to SAI. After researching SAI and its mission, I am eager to learn more about how its labor standards affect workers worldwide. I am excited to be working with Eileen Kaufman this summer and to research other social certification organizations.

Alizah Raza: I'm a rising senior at Wellesley College majoring in Economics and Architecture, with a special interest in the infrastructure of developing economies. As a strong believer in corporate social responsibility in production, the overall mission and objectives of SAI appealed to me. I am currently working with Kathryn Critchell on developing the SA8000^� Supplier Database to help certified facilities reach new buyers and to analyze and improve the SA8000^� certification process. I am excited to be part of SAI and to help promote sustainable development all over the world.

Yang Li : I am a rising junior at Wellesley College majoring in Economics and English. My experience at Wellesley furthered my interest in global development and human rights, which is my motivation for interning at SAAS. For SAAS,I am working on data analysis, marketing materials, and the SAAS website.    

SAI is accepting application for Fall 2011 interns, please visit www.sa-intl.org/careers.

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New SA8000^� Certification Statistics   

Over 1.45 million Workers Employed in SA8000^� Certified Facilities  

Number of Workers, by Country

 # Employees: 1,452,970