Economic accountability in Arabica green coffee supply chains

Abstract

A proliferation of coffee ethical sourcing certifications has cropped up over the past two decades, yet do these certifications have a positive correlated impact on coffee farmers and how does the industry measure this impact? This study analyzes 340 coffee supply chains, representing 11% of the global green Arabica coffee production, participating in a verification program that measures the following categorical indicators: social responsibility, economic accountability, producer support, coffee processing and environment. The study finds that as Producer Support indicator scores increase, Economic Accountability scores increase, while Social Responsibility indicators have no statistical correlation to Economic Accountability scores as measured by this verification program.