The Solidaridad Network is an international civil society organisation founded in 1969. Its main objective is facilitating the development of socially responsible, ecologically sound and profitable supply chains. It operates through eight regional expertise centers in over 50 countries.

History

The organization was founded in 1969. In 1988, Solidaridad founded the

Max Havelaar ''Max Havelaar; or, The Coffee Auctions of the Dutch Trading Company'' () is an 1860 novel by Multatuli (the pen name of Multatuli, Eduard Douwes Dekker), which played a key role in shaping and modifying Dutch Ethical Policy, Dutch colonial poli ...

coffee label, considered the starting point for the

Fairtrade A fair trade certification is a product certification within the market-based movement of fair trade. The most widely used fair trade certification is FLO International's, the International Fairtrade Certification Mark, used in Europe, Africa ...

movement. Having introduced Fairtrade coffee, Solidaridad went on to develop a similar scheme for bananas in 1996. In the 1990s, Solidaridad broadened its scope toward working with companies in

corporate social responsibility Corporate social responsibility (CSR) or corporate social impact is a form of international private business industry self-regulation, self-regulation which aims to contribute to societal goals of a philanthropy, philanthropic, activist, or chari ...

(CSR) programmes and certification. Moving forward, the organization focused further on working with producers in international

supply chains A supply chain is a complex logistics system that consists of facilities that convert raw materials into finished products and distribute them to end consumers or end customers, while supply chain management deals with the flow of goods in distr ...

by supporting round tables for commodities such as

coffee Coffee is a beverage brewed from roasted, ground coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content, but decaffeinated coffee is also commercially a ...

, livestock, soy, cocoa,

cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...

livestock Livestock are the Domestication, domesticated animals that are raised in an Agriculture, agricultural setting to provide labour and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, Egg as food, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The t ...

dairy A dairy is a place where milk is stored and where butter, cheese, and other dairy products are made, or a place where those products are sold. It may be a room, a building, or a larger establishment. In the United States, the word may also des ...

tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of south-western China and nor ...

, textiles,

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fib ...

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants (angiosperms) that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propaga ...

vegetables Vegetables are edible parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. This original meaning is still commonly used, and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including flowers, fruits, ...

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

textiles Textile is an Hyponymy and hypernymy, umbrella term that includes various Fiber, fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, Staple (textiles)#Filament fiber, filaments, Thread (yarn), threads, and different types of #Fabric, fabric. ...

palm oil Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from the mesocarp (reddish pulp) of the fruit of oil palms. The oil is used in food manufacturing, in beauty products, and as biofuel. Palm oil accounted for about 36% of global oils produced from o ...

, and

aquaculture Aquaculture (less commonly spelled aquiculture), also known as aquafarming, is the controlled cultivation ("farming") of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, mollusks, algae and other organisms of value such as aquatic plants (e.g. Nelu ...

. In 2016, Solidaridad launched a five-year strategic plan focussed on four thematic areas- robust infrastructure, good practices, sustainable landscapes and enabling policy environments. In 2018, Solidaridad won the Arrell Global Food Innovation Award.

Initiatives

Textiles & Cotton

In 2017, Solidaridad launched the Sustainable Cotton Ranking Index with the

World Wildlife Fund The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is a Swiss-based international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the ...

and Pesticide Action Network UK. This analyzed the performance of 75 companies and their sustainable cotton uptake. The report revealed that the majority of brands are not doing enough to increase their sustainable cotton use.

Soy

Solidaridad is one of the founders and board members of the Round Table on Responsible Soy. In 2017, Solidaridad carried out a project that led to the certification of 30,125 tons of soybeans produced by 18 small and medium-scale farmers in the region of Silvânia and Orizona, Goias. This was the first time small and medium-scale soy growers in Goias, Brazil have been able to receive certification from the Round Table on Responsible Soy.

Gold

Solidaridad assists small-scale gold mines to reduce their environmental impact. In Ghana, Solidaridad helps miners to implement mercury-free technologies. In 2016, the first mine in Africa to reach Fairtrade certification, Syanyonja Artisan Miners' Alliance in Uganda, was a partner of a Solidaridad partnership with

Fairtrade Foundation A fair trade certification is a product certification within the market-based movement of fair trade. The most widely used fair trade certification is FLO International's, the International Fairtrade Certification Mark, used in Europe, Afric ...

in East Africa.

Palm Oil

Solidaridad promotes better land-use planning to meet the growing demand for palm oil. In 2014, Solidaridad launched the Sustainable West Africa Palm Oil Programme (SWAPP). In 2016,

Henkel Henkel AG & Co. KGaA, commonly known as Henkel, is a German multinational chemical and consumer goods company headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany. Founded in 1876, the DAX company is organized into two globally operating business units (Cons ...

and

BASF BASF SE (), an initialism of its original name , is a European Multinational corporation, multinational company and the List of largest chemical producers, largest chemical producer in the world. Its headquarters are located in Ludwigshafen, Ge ...

launched a collaboration with Solidaridad in

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

to train 5,500 smallholders implement good agricultural practices. The project spans an area of roughly 16,000 hectares.

References

{{Reflist Organizations established in 1969