ISEAL Innovations Fund: Improving Social Auditing of Coffee Farms With 4C Services
Background
The “Fostering Social Auditing: Enhancing Issue Detection and Risk Identification through Responsive and Context-Specific Approaches” project from the ISEAL Innovations Fund enables Meo Carbon Solutions (MCS) to work together with its sister companies 4C Services and International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) on improving the identification, assessment and management of social risks and human rights violations before, during and after internal and third-party audits.
The project is made possible thanks to a grant from the ISEAL Innovations Fund, which is supported by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) and UK Development. The project is managed by 4C Services GmbH, with MCS as a project partner and ISCC as the project beneficiary.
The Challenge
Detecting social risks—such as child labour, discrimination and labour rights violations—during audits can be challenging. This is often due to factors like lack of transparency, cultural barriers, insufficient reporting mechanisms and the complexities of global supply chains, among others. As a result, auditors may struggle to access reliable information or witness direct evidence of abuses, limiting their ability to identify and address these critical issues effectively.
Our Solutions
MCS will support the development of improved auditing tools, including enhanced checklists, verification guidance and training materials. Additionally, it will provide the auditors with interviewing techniques to use during the audits.
Our Approach
The project aims to enhance auditors’ abilities to identify and document nuanced human rights risks while maintaining confidentiality and objectivity by developing context-sensitive and participatory tools. It will also strengthen the capacities of 4C-certified entities to detect these abuses better and refine their internal risk mitigation strategies to address them effectively.
For the first phase of the project, 4C and MCS conducted a baseline study, during which 4C certified entities, certification bodies and ISEAL community members were consulted about their experiences with social auditing, the techniques used and any challenges encountered. An in-person consultation took place in the project’s two focus countries, Vietnam and Colombia. This primary source of information was complemented by a literature review on the topic.
The baseline study confirmed key challenges: setting the scene during interviews (tone, trust and sensitivity), a lack of human rights-specific methodologies in auditing, standardised phrasing used in audits and the limited adaptability of checklists.
To address these challenges, the project developed a modular training program consisting of a pre-training module, “Foundations of Human Rights for Social Auditing,” and four in-person modules focusing on relevant topics (1) “Ensuring Freedom and Dignity at Work,” (2) “Protecting Children’s Rights,” (3) “Occupational Health and Safety” and (4) “Diversity, Inclusion and Gender Equality.” These trainings were delivered in Vietnam and Colombia.
The Results
This project is still ongoing; stay tuned for updates on our progress and for the final results.
Supported By:
