Descripción del proyecto
Estrategias eficaces del sector privado para el bienestar humano
Existe la necesidad urgente de remodelar los efectos de la inversión agrícola, el uso de la tierra y el comercio del bienestar humano. Las concentraciones sin precedentes en las cadenas de valor agroalimentarias están aumentando la desigualdad mundial, y el acaparamiento de tierras amenaza la vida de millones de personas. Esto hace necesario que el sector privado elabore estrategias para proteger y mejorar el bienestar humano de manera justa. Sin embargo, las ciencias actuales no son concluyentes en cuanto a qué estrategias son más efectivas y cómo se pueden abordar las limitaciones. En el proyecto COMPASS, financiado con fondos europeos, se analiza una serie de estrategias del sector privado —como los negocios inclusivos, los sistemas de certificación y las economías solidarias— para crear una guía sobre cómo el reconocimiento de la justicia ambiental en estas estrategias puede respaldar o dificultar el bienestar humano.
Objetivo
Unprecedented concentration in agri-food value chains is reinforcing global inequality. Waves of land grabbing threaten the livelihoods of millions. Reshaping the effects of agricultural investment, land use, and trade on human well-being is thus an urgent challenge. Certification schemes (CS) such as “Fairtrade” have become a common strategy to meet this challenge. However, accumulating evidence shows that many CS have limited effects on well-being. Inclusive business (IB) and solidarity economy (SE) strategies are emerging alternatives. Inclusiveness and solidarity are widely believed to enhance well-being, but evidence and theories disprove this common belief. Environmental justice may be a necessary condition to understand and reshape the effects of CS, IB, and SE on well-being. However, lack of reliable data and comparative analyses limits understanding of these links. COMPASS will tackle these challenges. This project aims to demonstrate how environmental justice influences the effects of CS, IB, and SE strategies on human well-being. COMPASS is organized in four work packages (WPs) and focuses on the cocoa and coffee sectors of Peru and Switzerland. WP1 surveys organizations (n=120) to compare their instruments used in CS, IB, and SE strategies. WP2 surveys households (n=840) and uses set-theoretic and process-tracing methodology to explain the effects of CS, IB, and SE on well-being. WP3 identifies the rules that organizations (n=18) create to regulate land use, investment and trade, assesses their environmental justice, and explains how they influence well-being. WP4 generates context-sensitive generalizations of these effects, and it tests and advances pertinent theories. COMPASS breaks new ground by systematically comparing CS, IB, and SE strategies and their effects on human well-being. It develops a new strand of environmental justice research on private-sector strategies and it tests the transformative potential of environmental justice.
Ámbito científico
Programa(s)
Régimen de financiación
ERC-STG - Starting GrantInstitución de acogida
3012 Bern
Suiza