228
on semi-structured interviews and broader engagement with 42 private firms working in coffee, cocoa and other commodity crops (“Private Sector Consultation”
2018).
1
Our findings indicate that many food and beverage companies already support action on climate change, at least in general terms. Most, however, say that they
need more guidance on climate risks and CSA solutions, in order to deepen and
scale their engagement. This study indicates that efforts to encourage private supplychain actors to embrace CSA should emphasise the following efforts: (i) offering
granular, subnational-level climate-risk data that will allow companies to integrate
CSA into their broader risk-management strategies; (ii) providing CSA information
and resources that are tailored to companies’ specific position within the supplychain; and (iii) emphasising the business case for CSA to make CSA uptake viable
for companies that are held accountable to revenue goals.
19.2 Provide Granular Data to Assist in Risk Management
Most food and beverage companies recognise that climate change both exacerbates
business risks and threatens ongoing sustainability efforts. In spite of this, many are
reluctant to act because of uncertainty about how and when their supply chains will
be affected, what role they should play and how to coordinate a response that is a
part of holistic sourcing and sustainability strategies. Even those companies that are
already taking action require more information in order to engage more deeply and
at scale.
All companies conduct risk management as a core commercial function, and our
interviews showed most food and beverage companies now routinely include climate change as one aspect of risk assessment. Companies generally spoke of two
categories of climate-change risk: operations risk, or risk to physical assets such as
processing facilities; and supply-chain risk, or risk of supply disruption. Risk varies
according to the companies’ physical footprint and supply-chain concentration. For
instance, the mainstream cocoa and chocolate industry is heavily exposed to supplychain risk, because most of the world’s cocoa comes from West Africa, a region
already experiencing the effects of climate change. The industry recognises the
immediate and long-term threat of climate change to both the livelihoods of farmers
and to a stable supply, as well as the pressures on forest health that may result from
these threats (Lundy 2017).
1 The Learning Community for Supply Chain Resilience, funded by USAID’s Feed the Future
program, interviewed 18 coffee companies (roasters and traders), 11 cocoa and chocolate companies (brands and traders) and 13 grain and ingredient companies. The goal was to better understand
how they think about climate-smart agriculture, the types of activities in which they engage, and
the types of climate information they use and/or need. Coffee and cocoa companies feature prominently because of the vulnerability of their supply chains to climate change: Coffee and cocoa are
tree crops with long productive life cycles, and most producers are smallholder farmers in lowincome countries.
K. Sloan et al.
on semi-structured interviews and broader engagement with 42 private firms working in coffee, cocoa and other commodity crops (“Private Sector Consultation”
2018).
1
Our findings indicate that many food and beverage companies already support action on climate change, at least in general terms. Most, however, say that they
need more guidance on climate risks and CSA solutions, in order to deepen and
scale their engagement. This study indicates that efforts to encourage private supplychain actors to embrace CSA should emphasise the following efforts: (i) offering
granular, subnational-level climate-risk data that will allow companies to integrate
CSA into their broader risk-management strategies; (ii) providing CSA information
and resources that are tailored to companies’ specific position within the supplychain; and (iii) emphasising the business case for CSA to make CSA uptake viable
for companies that are held accountable to revenue goals.
19.2 Provide Granular Data to Assist in Risk Management
Most food and beverage companies recognise that climate change both exacerbates
business risks and threatens ongoing sustainability efforts. In spite of this, many are
reluctant to act because of uncertainty about how and when their supply chains will
be affected, what role they should play and how to coordinate a response that is a
part of holistic sourcing and sustainability strategies. Even those companies that are
already taking action require more information in order to engage more deeply and
at scale.
All companies conduct risk management as a core commercial function, and our
interviews showed most food and beverage companies now routinely include climate change as one aspect of risk assessment. Companies generally spoke of two
categories of climate-change risk: operations risk, or risk to physical assets such as
processing facilities; and supply-chain risk, or risk of supply disruption. Risk varies
according to the companies’ physical footprint and supply-chain concentration. For
instance, the mainstream cocoa and chocolate industry is heavily exposed to supplychain risk, because most of the world’s cocoa comes from West Africa, a region
already experiencing the effects of climate change. The industry recognises the
immediate and long-term threat of climate change to both the livelihoods of farmers
and to a stable supply, as well as the pressures on forest health that may result from
these threats (Lundy 2017).
1 The Learning Community for Supply Chain Resilience, funded by USAID’s Feed the Future
program, interviewed 18 coffee companies (roasters and traders), 11 cocoa and chocolate companies (brands and traders) and 13 grain and ingredient companies. The goal was to better understand
how they think about climate-smart agriculture, the types of activities in which they engage, and
the types of climate information they use and/or need. Coffee and cocoa companies feature prominently because of the vulnerability of their supply chains to climate change: Coffee and cocoa are
tree crops with long productive life cycles, and most producers are smallholder farmers in lowincome countries.
K. Sloan et al.