Promoting Agricultural Value Chains:

In the OIC Member Countries

and sales, particularly for branded manufacturers and retailers. Some of the largest companies

(e.g. Nestlé, Coca-Cola) and global brands (e.g. Nike) suffered significant losses and

reputational damage as a result of activist campaigns blaming the companies for inadequate

working conditions and environmental degradation in their supply chains. Many companies

have since sought to protect their business by engaging in CSR activities, i.e. activities which

address “the responsibility of enterprises for their impacts on society” (definition of CSR by the

European Commission, 2011). This includes the adoption of corporate codes of conduct,

sustainability reporting and stakeholder engagement. While the CSR trend initially focused on

large multinational companies from industrialised countries which could easily be targeted in

advocacy campaigns, companies from emerging markets are increasingly catching up. For

instance, with regard to sustainability reporting, a recent survey confirms exceptional growth

in emerging economies. Companies from many of these countries are now approximately on

par with companies from the European Union (KPMG International, 2013b).

The most dominant manifestation of the increased importance of CSR is the growing

proliferation of sustainability standards, as already referred to in Section 2.1.4. Growth since

the late 2000s has expanded far beyond the niche markets of the early 1980s, 1990s and early

2000s. By now sustainability standards have penetrated the mainstream markets for a variety

of agricultural products according to a recent survey: For instance, sustainability standard-

compliant coffee, which led in terms of market penetration, reached a 40 percent share of

global production in 2012 (up from 15 percent in 2008) (Potts et al., 2014). Other agricultural

products also experienced a rise in market shares (in terms of global production) (see

Figure 2-2 Market shares of selected sustainability standard-compliant agricultural

products

Source: Potts et al., 2014

Coffee Cocoa Palm Oil

Tea

Cotton Bananas Sugar Soy Beans

Percentage

2008 2012