Behind the Brands Independent Evaluation on the Implementation of Land Rights Commitments
This independent evaluation by Emerald Network focuses on land rights, access and sustainable use, through an assessment of five companies: the Coca-Cola Company (TCCC), PepsiCo, Nestlé, Unilever and Associated British Foods’ (ABF) subsidiary Illovo Sugar Africa. As a result of the Behind the Brands campaign, these companies have publicly recognized the risk of people being dispossessed of their land to make way for agricultural commodities and have pledged to respect the rights of women, communities and smallholder farmers.
The evaluation finds that since the start of the Behind the Brands campaign, companies’ internal policy environment in relation to land rights and zero land grabs has significantly improved and is aligned with international best practice. Most company land governance frameworks are in place. However, there is evidence of policy evaporation and “phantom” practice when implemented across the supply chain.
Emerging good practices include establishing long term implementation partnerships with international and local land rights CSOs; publicly revealing supply chains, grievances and suspension of suppliers; mapping land under crop production in countries; supporting and investing in the documentation of land rights; investing in the training of staff; acknowledging the link between systemic poverty and land use; investing in sector-level cooperation in order to deepen impact and create economies of scale in corporate social responsibility investments with regard to land issues.