Partnerships for Rural Development: ESG Investments and Program Implementation in Cocoa

• In Event: Public Policies in Comparative Perspectives

Abstract

A burgeoning area of political science research considers the role of the international community and government regulation in combating climate change. Far less has been done on the political implications of private investments into corporate social responsibility (CSR) and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) initiatives throughout a firm’s supply chains, though their actions have complex political dimensions. This paper calls for new research in political science around how corporate investments via CSR / ESG alter existing international, domestic, and local political relationships. In support of this agenda, here I organize the existing variation among funders and their implementing partners in-country, including non-governmental organizations, inter-governmental organizations, industry organizations, and government agencies. I consider the multi-million-dollar investments made by international chocolate companies into infrastructure, service provision, and social capital in Ghanaian communities that supply their cocoa. Through interviews with corporate funders, in-country “extension officers” of implementing partners, and representatives of the cocoa marketing board, I present a typology of partnership models pursued by corporate ESG funds for sustainable development in cocoa: “landscape”, self-led/partner as needed, and localization. I consider the firm as a new actor involved in rural sustainable development and emphasize how different partner roles and trade-off decisions can influence various outcomes of interest to political scientists. Thus, in service of a broader call for research into the political effects of CSR / ESG investments made in the Global South by international firms, this paper presents a new way of systematically thinking through partnerships for sustainable development funded by private companies.

Author

• Siobhan Finnerty, University of Chicago