This project recognises the burden that small-scale sugarcane farmers face to meet traceability and sustainability standards set by buyers, voluntary systems and regulations. Compliance can be complex and costly, and small-scale farmers often lack the know-how, credit or tools to reach the sustainability performance expected of them.
Bonsucro intends to support smallholders on this journey by providing incentives and rewards for short-term, incremental progress towards sustainability. Short-term impacts such as improved record-keeping, worker safety and wellbeing, and more sustainable water use will be used as indicators for long-term change, and worthy of incentives themselves.
The project will build on learnings from previous pilots to create a market-resilient model for smallholder incentives. Firstly, Bonsucro will target their existing members, companies and donors to secure investment in this incentives programme. Secondly, the project will build a digital pay-for-impact platform to support coordination between small-scale producers and investors.
