GPSNR Working Groups Update: August 2022

It’s been a busy month, to say the least! If you haven’t had the chance to take stock of everything that has happened, here is the update: 

Strategy and Objectives Working Group

After conducting 2 sessions of the Theory of Change (ToC) Workshop last  month, the Strategy and Objectives working group will soon finalise the ToC document and potentially identify new strategies for GPSNR. They are also working on developing a Request for Proposals for the Economic Risk Study. If you are interested in working on this RFP, please let Aidan know (aidan@gpsnr.org)

Smallholder Representation Working Group

After three successful smallholder onboarding workshops for smallholders from Indonesia, India and Cambodia over the last two months, the working group is formally incorporating new smallholders from the three countries as GPSNR members. 28 new smallholders from Indonesia have already been accepted as members. The group will also be conducting onboarding workshops for Sri Lanka, Thailand and Ivory Coast, and is facilitating smallholder EC nominations ahead of the 2021 General Assembly on 14th December.

Policy Toolbox Working Group

As the General Assembly of 2021 comes closer, the group has met numerous times in October to finalize the Reporting Requirements. . 

Capacity Building Working Group

After finalising the agroforestry position paper via the Agroforestry Task Force, the Capacity Building Working Group is busy finalising the Good Agricultural Practices (GAP), a system to monitor impacts of capacity building activities, implementation plans for Ivory Coast and Indonesia as well as developing key deliverables and milestones for the Thailand national sub working group. 

Traceability and Transparency Working Group

This working group is conducting member consultations on the recently developed Traceability Benchmark, and will provide recommendations on the same to the EC based on traceability studies from last year. At the same time, they are developing a TOR for a new working group on risk assessment.

Shared Responsibility Working Group

The group has discussed and explored solutions to identified root causes for each focus area of shared responsibility. It is also continuing to draft activities and a framework for Shared Responsibility for integration into other processes such as the Implementation Guidance, which will include consultations with GPSNR members and WGs to ensure alignment on Shared Responsibility for the platform. 

Using the Theory of Change model, the Working Group identified root causes that prevent the natural rubber supply chain from achieving the desired state. Once these root causes were agreed upon, effective strategies could be designed to mitigate them.

Considering that the natural rubber industry and the world around it is not static but changes with time, the Working Group has planned for the Theory of Change to be a living document that GPSNR members will continually update and maintain. This will ensure its relevance and role in realizing the vision of GPSNR.

In addition to the above, the Working Group is drafting the Terms of Reference (ToR) for the Equity sub-Working Group. The sub-Working Group’s focus will be on how we can ensure equity along the supply chain.

‘Policy Toolbox’ Working Group

Working Group members’ comments on the first draft of the top line policy components were consolidated and incorporated into an updated draft. For ease of understanding, it was agreed that the policy components and implementation components would be displayed in separate tables. This would allow members to more easily distinguish the policy commitments they should adopt, and the corresponding actions they should implement.

The Working Group aims to have the top line policy components finalized by the end of January for the Executive Committee’s approval.  

‘Capacity Building’ Working Group

The Working Group has designed the questionnaire on which it will base the interviews of stakeholders conducting capacity building activities in rubber-producing countries. Volunteers from the Working Group as well as the GPSNR Secretariat will contact the previously identified stakeholders and seek their input on past and existing capacity building initiatives, evaluating the success of the activities and exploring the role that GPSNR can play in ensuring that the initiatives fulfill their objectives.

‘Traceability and Transparency’ Working Group

Using the Theory of Change document as an anchor to their discussions, the Working Group was able to analyze how the lack of traceability and transparency in the natural rubber supply chain would constitute a threat to sustainability, and how to tackle the associating challenges. Next, the Working Group will start on the design of pilot studies for tools currently employed to assess supply chain risks and/or achieve supply chain traceability or transparency.