TY - JOUR

T1 - Contextualizing certification and auditing: Soy certification and access of local communities to land and water in Brazil

AU - Schilling-Vacaflor, Almut

AU - Lenschow, Andrea

AU - Challies, Edward

AU - Cotta, Benedetta

AU - Newig, Jens

PY - 2020

Y1 - 2020

N2 - The massive expansion of soy production in Brazil has contributed to a loss of access for local communitiesto land and water, particularly in highly dynamic frontier regions in the Cerrado. Soy certificationstandards like the Roundtable on Responsible Soy (RTRS) contain principles that are supposed to preventsuch problems. In this paper, we examine the extent to which certification and auditing have served toprotect local communities’ access to land and water in western Bahía state in the Cerrado’s Matopibaregion. We draw on findings from field research in Brazil and western Bahía, 72 semi-structured interviewswith corporate, state and civil society actors, and a systematic analysis of audit reports fromRTRS-certified farms in Bahía.We find that auditing practices are not effective in protecting the rights and access of local communitiesto land and water due to three inter-related sets of factors: 1) the business-dominated nature of thedrafting and content of the RTRS standard, 2) the structural limitations and everyday practices of auditing,and 3) domestic and local contextual factors in Brazil and western Bahía.This study aims to contribute to a re-thinking and re-assessment of certification and auditing practicesand suggests that new approaches are required to govern global commodity chains in a more environmentallyjust way. We advocate for a locally embedded and community-sensitive perspective in researchon certification and auditing, to complement previous research in the fields of critical political economyand sustainability governance.

AB - The massive expansion of soy production in Brazil has contributed to a loss of access for local communitiesto land and water, particularly in highly dynamic frontier regions in the Cerrado. Soy certificationstandards like the Roundtable on Responsible Soy (RTRS) contain principles that are supposed to preventsuch problems. In this paper, we examine the extent to which certification and auditing have served toprotect local communities’ access to land and water in western Bahía state in the Cerrado’s Matopibaregion. We draw on findings from field research in Brazil and western Bahía, 72 semi-structured interviewswith corporate, state and civil society actors, and a systematic analysis of audit reports fromRTRS-certified farms in Bahía.We find that auditing practices are not effective in protecting the rights and access of local communitiesto land and water due to three inter-related sets of factors: 1) the business-dominated nature of thedrafting and content of the RTRS standard, 2) the structural limitations and everyday practices of auditing,and 3) domestic and local contextual factors in Brazil and western Bahía.This study aims to contribute to a re-thinking and re-assessment of certification and auditing practicesand suggests that new approaches are required to govern global commodity chains in a more environmentallyjust way. We advocate for a locally embedded and community-sensitive perspective in researchon certification and auditing, to complement previous research in the fields of critical political economyand sustainability governance.

U2 - 10.1016/j.worlddev.2020.105281

DO - 10.1016/j.worlddev.2020.105281

M3 - Journal articles

SP - 1

EP - 12

JO - World Development : the multi-disciplinary international journal devoted to the study and promotion of world development

JF - World Development : the multi-disciplinary international journal devoted to the study and promotion of world development

SN - 0305-750X

ER -