Sustainable supply chains to build back better

Project dashboard: Find out more about the project’s implementation figures here

Context

Since 2021, the European Union (EU) Programme for Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI), together with the International Labour Organization (ILO), has been working jointly on an initiative (GLO/22/29/EUR) that uses global supply chains as an entry point to promote decent work. Through the ILO Office for the Andean Countries in Colombia, in collaboration with the government, employers' and workers' organisations, as well as other stakeholders, the project has sought to develop new knowledge, tools, guidance, training, and technical policy advice to address the challenges and opportunities of decent work in the coffee supply chain, making it fairer, more resilient, and sustainable.

Results

• Increased knowledge and understanding of decent work deficits through a rapid study on the challenges and opportunities for decent work in Colombia’s coffee supply chain.
• Actions to equip constituents and stakeholders to promote decent work in fairer, more resilient, and sustainable supply chains, including the trainer-of-trainers programme for #HarvestingDecentWork, the certification of occupational competencies for coffee pickers—which by 2024 has recognised the skills of over 2,500 workers—and the coffee sector toolbox.
• Development and implementation of policies and measures to rebuild fairer, more resilient, and sustainable coffee supply chains, such as the establishment of the Regional Coffee Chain Committee, the development and signing of the sixteen-year coffee chain policy for Huila—"Competitiveness Agreement for the Coffee Sector in Huila 2023–2039"—and the "Pact for Harvesting Decent Work" ratified by the Minister of Labour.

Systemic strengthening of the coffee supply chain

Find out more about the project’s implementation figures here

Next steps

For 2024 and 2025, the ILO, alongside the Innovation in Sustainable Agricultural Supply Chains INCAS Global+ project, implemented by German Development Cooperation (GIZ) and funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), will continue efforts to strengthen the systemic approach to the coffee supply chain (COL/23/17/DEU). This will be achieved by enhancing the capacities of coffee sector actors at both national and local levels, particularly in the department of Huila, establishing a scalable and replicable model to improve working conditions in the most vulnerable links of the supply chain.

Objectives

• Conduct an analysis of gaps in the coffee sector, particularly concerning associative processes in Huila, to develop a roadmap that prioritises actions for stakeholders in the coffee supply chain, placing social justice and decent work at the core of economic, social, and environmental policies.
• Continue promoting the certification of occupational competencies for male and female coffee pickers, with a gender-sensitive approach, focusing particularly on the western zone of Huila.
• Enhance the capacities and sustainability of the Regional Coffee Chain Committee to foster social dialogue on labour formalisation and the improvement of living conditions, especially in the most vulnerable link of the chain, thereby influencing regional and national policies.