The link between Stakeholders Value Network and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) : Case study of Oromia Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union (OCFCU) in Ethiopia

Sammanfattning:

The aim of this thesis is to examine the need for a more open and sustainable business approach that centers on social responsibility in creating sustainable solutions for the smallholder, specifically with contributions from stakeholders in the value network and others like Non Government Organizations (NGOs). This approach is to create sustainable competitive markets and business network. The concepts of CSR stakeholders value network is applied to a case study of a real business development initiative from Ethiopia, Oromia Coffee Farmers Cooperatives Union (OCFCU). The thesis reveals the role of farmer’s cooperative in the stakeholders’ value network and CSR thinking as an active tool for advancing smallholder by integrating them in to a global value network that create inclusive capital which leads to sustainable development, and poverty reduction. It will also explore how the farmer’s cooperative is playing a role in eliminating intermediaries, who has been taking much of the profit from the age old free market coffee chain, which enables OCFCU to create a cooperative coffee chain. Farmers’ problem was the driving factors for the formation of OCFCU. The two problems were: (1) The New York C market is trading coffee as a commodity (2) Technological advancement in countries where coffee grow in large scale, which in turn result the price to remain low, has made it even worse for small holders like OCFCU to make realistic business. Therefore, in order to achieve the cooperative farm’s greatest aim, bringing more money to the coffee growers’ pocket, the cooperative farm has to find a market place where consumers are willing to pay premium price. This continues search for a better market for their quality coffee has brought OCFCU from value chain to value network that we have related it with the stakeholders’ values network. This bold move from value chain to value network is the new business model in the stakeholders’ value network, where commodity market leaves the way to specialty market. This is the contribution of the thesis. To conclude, the role of OCFCU is to keep an eye on the high quality standards of buyers in the developed world and focus on continuously training farmers so that they growing high quality coffee that consumers are willing to pay premium price.