Seminar - Alice Thomann - June 28, 2010 This presentation in part of a series of seminar carried on at CIP's HQ during 2010.

1. Corporate Social
Responsibility at CIP:
Lessons learned from
working with the private
sector

2. Outline
Introduction
1. Results
2. Lessons learned:
– how to work with the private sector
towards development objectives
3. Perspectives:
– Promoting CSR in market chain
– Applying CSR to CIP business
Conclusions

3. Developing an approach
for integrating CSR
in value chains
introduction

4. Intl public
goods
Research
Divisions
CGIAR/CIP
Papa Andina:
fostering innovation for development
MDGs &
Impact
Rural Poor
Market chain approach
Capacity strengthening
Innovation system

5. Assignement: complement Papa
Andina’s approach
a. Participatory market chain approach (PMCA)
– Trigger market innovation and partnerships
b. Stakeholders’ platform
– Consolidate partnerships and foster access to knowledge, services
and training
c. Corporate Social Responsibility
– Strengthen collaboration with agro-industries to scale-up
d. Advocacy
– Set potato in the public oprinion and political agenda to scale-up
e. Technological innovation:
– Increase capacity to respond to market demand
f. Knowledge management and capacity strengthening

6. 2002 2006
Peru : The native potato opportunity
MT
1000
2000
Pilot
products
Creative
imitations
Large
companies?
2004
Quality
Volumes
Regularity
Formality
Asimetric
bargaining power
CSR?
time
New market
for farmers

7. In theory…
• Research assignment:
– develop an approach to integrate CSR into
the potato value chain as a way to increase
commitment of private sector and scale-up
– validate it - with INCOPA and local private
partners in Peru

8. • Development assignment: achieve impact
for farmers through this approach - with
Innovandes:
– Geographically-based project
– Development vs research objectives
– Work through local partners (NGOs) and
farmer organizations
– Key assets: relationship and trust developped
over time with local partners and farmer
organizations
…and in practice

9. Research
and development results

10. Quality
production
Independant
certification
Suppliers
1. Quality product
2. Social marketing
1. Favourable
terms of trade
2. Capacity building
Responsible
consumption
Orientation
and control Credibility
Responsible
company
Clients
Research results
Model for an inclusive and competitive
market chain integrating CSR principles

11. Model validated with the market leader
• Pepsico’s CSR investment
– Favorable price to producer,
based on production costs, and
contract
– Social marketing: linking native
potatoes and development
issues
• “Business case” (vs philantropy)
– Access to a new, high value
niche market
– Access to a quality, reliable
supply (long-term relationship)

12. Development results: farmers
• Estimated farmers’ profitability: 20-40%
• Operation benefited around 300 families, including
daily workers
• Access to a stable market over 3 year
• Self-esteem and new capacities (organization,
quality management)
Price paid to farmers - 2008
(USD)
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
Traditional market T'ikapapa Crisps industry
Price paid to farmers – 2008
(USD)
Price paid to farmers - 2008
(USD)
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
Traditional market T'ikapapa Crisps industry
Price paid to farmers – 2008
(USD)

13. • Label sets a standard for
CSR practices by companies
• Contributes to positionning
products that generate
benefits for small-scale farmers
and prevents unfair competition
• Owned by a multiskateholder platform
(www.papasandinas.org) to promote
interaction with agrifood companies
about CSR and support learning process
Towards sustainability:
label for native potato products with CSR

14. 2002 2006
Beyond the success story: market growth
2008
MT
1000
2000
Creative
imitations
Large
companies
2004 2009
Pilot
products
Export
Fairtrade
Restaurants

15. Challenges
• Sustainability of results:
– Business relationship and Andean Potato Initiative
still under consolidation
– Still very important role of CIP and NGOs as
facilitators
– Consumers need to be more involved
– Climate change and vulnerability
• Scaling-up: ensuring that further development of
the native potato market benefits poverty
reduction is still a challenge!
• Feeding back demand into the research agenda:
reducing sugars, organic sprout inhibitor, ICM,
quality seeds, nutritional and functional
properties of native potatoes.

16. Conclusions from this experience
• Reality IS complex!
• Temptation to jump from facilitator’s to actor’s
role is at every corner
• Both research and development projects have
been necessary and complementary to achieve
development outcomes
• Development impact:
– How far/long reaches CIP-Papa Andina’s
responsibility?
– Who manages borders between R&D if not R&D
institutions?
– Isn’t this part of our core business too?

17. Lessons learned: why and
how to work with the
private sector

18. Why should CIP
work with the private sector?
– Valuable and complementary partner for non profit
institutions towards development objectives
• Financial and Human Resources
• Skills and risk-taking capacity to scale-up
• Market/demand knowledge and expertise
– CIP has assets for facilitating public-private
innovation process
• Good reputation and image
• Relatively neutral “honnest broker”
• Expertise and research capacities (although permeability of
research agenda to short/medium term concerns is limited)

19. How to work
with the private sector?
1. Be clear about our development agenda:
• Orient benefits of collaboration towards
sustainable pro-poor change vs own
institutional/program benefits (eg. find
alternative funding for research)
• As facilitator/broker,
have a clear
perception of our role
and (exit) strategy
for the sustainability
of results

20. – Don’t judge – understand and evaluate
company’s own pressures (management,
work culture, market trends)
– Don’t request at once - convince that we
are a valuable partner
• Beware of details and accuracy
• Build on previous successes and assets
– Don’t fear – start dialogue, state our
objective/needs
– Identify allies within the company / internal
advocacy to get the management on board
– Find common interest, concrete shared
successes on short term (build trust)
2. Learn to know our partner

21. 3. Chose the right way and moment to
formalize rules of the game
–Assess image risks and opportunity cost
–Analyze issues of intellectual property
and exclusivity

22. CSR and perspectives
at CIP

23. CSR in value chains
In Peru:
• Strengthen the Andean Potato Initiative’s
autonomy and leadership + Public awareness
around the label values
• CIP’s strategy for the development of the native
potato opportunity?
Scaling-out:
CSR is a global trend. Identify private partners,
construct rules of the game and define how to
embody them.

24. CIP and the private sector
• Promote exchange and reflection on
current experiences
(CSR, public-private partnerships,
stakeholder platforms)
• Community of practice within CIP / CG?

25. Looking into the mirror:
CIP’s CSR
CSR is
a philosophy and an
ethical form of
business
management
taking into account
stakeholders’
interests
to achieve mutual
sustainable
development
(win-win situation)
CG
CIP Board
Beneficiaries
(Clients)
Government Environment
Donors
(Clients)
Society
Employees
R4D
Value Chain

26. CSR principles
• Linked to core business (R4D)
– Not philantropy
• Implies communication (dialogue with
stakeholders)
– Not just marketing
• Requires innovation
– Not just complying with established rules/
“business as usual”
• Requires commitment and investment at the
highest management level and coherence
through the organization (credibility)
• Accountability to stakeholders

27. CIP’s stakeholders: Donors
Clients who pay for added value (impact)
Business as usual:
– Give them what(ever) they ask for
– Position and sell our work on the competitive
R&D market
CSR :
– Strive for transparent communication and debate
on effective and efficient impact pathways
– Analyze critically our work
The chips analogy

28. CIP’s stakeholders: local partners
NARIs, NGOs, public authorities, farmers, etc.
Clients who benefit from our R&D products
Business as usual:
– Individually: (only) providers of data
– Collectively: benefit from research products (public goods)
CSR
– Take demand into account (even if they don’t pay)
– Be accountable. Strive to make sure they benefit
individually from research process (capacities, reflexion) if
not from the final product
– Develop access to knowledge - as important as research
products themselves (Cf. distribution network)

29. CIP’s communication
• Important to have high quality (and good-
looking) publications for donors and medias.
• Internal communication and debate at CIP,
institutional learning, knowledge management
and sharing, capacity building and
communication with stakeholders are as
important as research itself

30. conclusions

31. Assessing impact:
• Impact study on the development of the native
potato market – Papa Andina/DIV I
• Effects of market articulation on livelihood and
biodiversity – Papa Andina / DIV I and III
Learning from the experience:
• Relevance and potential of the “Innovandes”
model for better linking research and
development – Papa Andina / DIV IV
• Lessons learned on stakeholder platforms, with
a focus on facilitation role – Papa Andina/DIV I
Pending research issues

32. Conclusions of a “bicho raro” at CIP
• “L’enfer, c’est les autres”
– CIP makes good research
– Papa Andina develops good
approaches for innovation
Bottlenecks (long-term processes)
• Establishing real partnerships with
local partners struggling in a complex reality
• Feeding back the research agenda
• Most difficult personal challenge:
find balance between
– scientific rigor and pragmatism
– intellectual honesty and need
to “sell” ideas
– facilitating and publishing
– development and research objectives

33. Key references
• Native Potato Market Chain and Poverty Reduction: Innovation
around Corporate Social Responsibility, Thomann A. et al.,
article presented at ISTRC, Lima, 2009
• Brokering Innovation for Sustainable Development: The Papa
Andina Case, Devaux et al. Working Paper accepted by ILAC for
publication, 2010
• Multistakeholder platforms for innovation and coordination in
market chains, Thiele G. et al, article presented at ISTRC, Lima
2009.
• CSR: A Challenge for the Donor Community. Frame, B.,
Development in Practice, Volume 15, Numbers 3 and 4, June 2005.
• Maximising the Contribution of Agricultural Research to Rurual
Development, Ashley S et al., EIARD discussion paper, November
2009
• Perspectives on partnerships: A litterature review, Horton D. et
al, CIP working paper, 2009
• Huis Clos, Jean-Paul Sartre, 1944, Ed. Gallimard, France.
• Del Titanic al Arca de Noé – Cuentoferencia de François Valley,
Biblioteca del Olivar, San Isidro, junio 2010

34. ¡Muchas gracias!
Alice Thomann
Papa Andina
a.thomann@cgiar.org