In this conversation, Dr Christine Woda and Roberto Duarte Preuss will discuss the key takeaways in the recent report David versus Goliath: niche products and mainstream agricultural export commodities – to what extent do they promote sustainable development?, written on behalf of the “Initiative for Sustainable Agricultural Supply Chains” (INA), managed by German development cooperation agency GIZ. Drawing on concrete examples from the report, this webinar will discuss the ways that public-private partnerships can help in fostering sustainable sourcing of non-wood forest products and improve livelihoods for producers of niche products like botanicals. What are some factors that help these partnerships and projects succeed? What are the challenges to their success? What is the role of certifications – both their limits and what they make possible? What are some concrete steps botanical companies can take to initiate these partnerships and to better ensure their chances of success?

We will follow this webinar with a Brown Bag discussion to discuss action steps for SHP underwriters. If you would like information about becoming an SHP Underwriter to join this conversation, please contact Ann.

Bios

Roberto Duarte currently works at the Initiative for Sustainable Agricultural Supply Chains INA at Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. He earned his Master in Geography at LMU München and holds an MBA with focus on Small and Medium Enterprises from University of Applied Arts and Sciences Hannover. He has worked for German trade and development institutions in Peru, Brazil and Germany. His areas of expertise comprise rural development, natural resources management and sustainable agricultural and biodiversity-based value chains. Roberto has extensive experience managing innovative, interdisciplinary projects together with public and private stakeholders from Europe, Africa, India and Latin America.

Christine Woda is a forester (PhD, Göttingen 2003) focusing on biodiversity conservation and improved livelihood for local communities and indigenous people. A key experience in her professional life was leading a project to strengthen sustainability along the Styrax gum supply chain, a non-timber product produced in Honduras by indigenous people for the international fragrance sector. The project implementation by the German Cooperation together with international companies demonstrated to her the high potential of public-private partnership to promote sustainability and economic development in a successful manner. This concept - guided by the BioTrade principles of UNCTAD - has been successfully repeated by her in partnership with companies in other supply chains in Latin America and South East Asia.