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| Solidaridad | |
|---|---|
| Name | Solidaridad |
| Formation | 1969 |
| Founder | Friesland Development Fund |
| Type | Non-governmental organization |
| Headquarters | Utrecht |
| Region served | Global South |
| Focus | Sustainable development, Supply chain management, Corporate social responsibility |
Solidaridad
Solidaridad is an international development organization founded in 1969 with a focus on improving sustainability in commodity supply chains and strengthening producer organizations across the Global South. It operates programs linking producers, traders, retailers, and civil society to address challenges in sectors such as coffee, cocoa, copper, soy, palm oil, and gold. Solidaridad collaborates with multilateral institutions, multinational corporations, grassroots movements, and academic partners to pilot interventions and scale best practices.
Solidaridad was established in 1969 following initiatives by Dutch development actors including Friesland Development Fund and early collaborations with Oxfam and The Hunger Project. During the 1970s and 1980s Solidaridad expanded its work on fair trade with links to Fairtrade International, Max Havelaar, and World Fair Trade Organization, while engaging in campaigns alongside Greenpeace and Amnesty International. In the 1990s Solidaridad shifted toward supply chain interventions informed by dialogues with United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, International Labour Organization, and private sector partners such as Unilever and Nestlé. The 2000s saw regional hubs established in Latin America, West Africa, and Southeast Asia, connecting Solidaridad to initiatives like the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil and the Better Cotton Initiative. In the 2010s and 2020s the organization deepened partnerships with World Bank, European Commission, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and national agencies including USAID and DFID.
Solidaridad’s mission centers on fostering resilient livelihoods and sustainable commodity systems through capacity building, landscape approaches, and market development. Programmatically it runs capacity programs for smallholder farmers with training methods influenced by Farmer Field School models and cooperative strengthening linked to International Cooperative Alliance. Sectoral programs include sustainable coffee initiatives that liaise with Specialty Coffee Association and Rainforest Alliance, cocoa projects coordinated with Hershey and Barry Callebaut, mining initiatives addressing artisanal and small-scale gold extraction with ties to Lundin Foundation and Alliance for Responsible Mining, and cotton programs connected to Better Cotton and Textile Exchange. Solidaridad also pilots landscape restoration with partners such as Ecosystem Restoration Camps and implements traceability pilots using standards from Global Reporting Initiative and tools promoted by CDP.
Solidaridad is organized into regional hubs and thematic departments governed by a supervisory board and executive director. Its governance structure involves a board with ties to civil society leaders from Netherlands, Kenya, Ghana, and Peru and an executive team coordinating programs across hubs in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. Operational units include program management, monitoring and evaluation teams using methods aligned with Impact Management Project and Social Return on Investment practice, a partnership office liaising with corporate partners like Cargill and Archer Daniels Midland, and a fundraising unit engaging institutional donors such as Rockefeller Foundation and European Investment Bank.
Solidaridad’s funding model combines grants, contract work, and corporate partnerships. Major institutional funders have included European Commission, Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, USAID, and philanthropic foundations such as Ford Foundation. Corporate partnerships have been formed with companies including Unilever, Mars, Incorporated, Nestlé, and BASF for joint sustainability programs. Solidaridad also implements multi-stakeholder platforms with actors like Proforest, IDH - Sustainable Trade Initiative, and commodity roundtables including the Round Table on Responsible Soy.
Solidaridad reports outcomes on metrics such as yield improvements, income changes for smallholders, reductions in deforestation, and compliance with labor standards. Its monitoring frameworks reference Sustainable Development Goals indicators and align with methodologies from ILO due diligence guidance and OECD responsible business conduct. Independent evaluations have been carried out by consultancies and academic partners including IIED, Wageningen University, and Overseas Development Institute assessing program scalability in Ghana, Colombia, and Indonesia. Solidaridad often publishes case studies on traceability pilots that connect farmer groups to buyers such as Starbucks and Ferrero.
Critics have raised concerns about the accountability of NGOs working with large corporations, citing debates similar to those around Greenwashing and partnerships scrutinized in coverage by The Guardian and Al Jazeera. Questions have been posed about potential conflicts of interest when project funding originates from commodity giants like Bunge or Sime Darby. Academic critiques from authors at King’s College London and University of Manchester have examined whether certification and voluntary standards—such as those promoted alongside Rainforest Alliance and Fairtrade International—sufficiently address structural market power. Solidaridad has responded by increasing transparency, aligning with Transparency International principles, and subjecting programs to third-party audits.
Regional initiatives include landscape restoration in Mato Grosso and Amazonas involving soy and cattle supply chains linked to GIZ and ABCD Brazil stakeholders; cocoa rehabilitation projects in Ivory Coast and Ghana with connections to ICCO and Cargill; and sustainable palm oil programs in Sumatra coordinated with RSPO actors. Sectoral initiatives span sustainable cotton programs in West Africa engaging CottonConnect and African Cotton and Textile Industries Federation, renewable energy transitions in artisanal gold mining collaborating with UNEP and IDB, and regenerative agriculture pilots in Peru that connect to Conservation International and CIAT.
Category:International non-profit organizations