Solidaridad

Solidaridad is an international civil society organization founded in the Netherlands in 1969. It works with farmers, miners, workers, businesses, governments, financial institutions, and civil-society partners to improve the social, environmental, and economic performance of commodity supply chains. Rather than operating primarily as a consumer-facing product brand, Solidaridad functions as a development and market-transformation organization: it develops practical standards, supports producer organizations, convenes companies and other stakeholders, and promotes policy and investment conditions intended to make responsible production commercially viable. The organization became especially influential in the history of ethical consumption through its role in creating the Max Havelaar coffee label in 1988. The label is widely regarded as an important starting point for the modern Fairtrade movement. Solidaridad subsequently helped extend the approach to bananas in 1996 and broadened its work during the 1990s from fair-trade labeling into corporate social responsibility, certification, producer support, and supply-chain improvement. Its areas of engagement came to include coffee, bananas, cocoa, cotton, textiles, tea, sugarcane, fruit and vegetables, livestock and dairy, soy, palm oil, aquaculture, and gold. Solidaridad's model combines local implementation with international coordination. The network operates through eight regional expertise centers and works in more than 50 countries. Its programs generally address several connected challenges at once, including farmer and worker livelihoods, access to markets and finance, labor conditions, deforestation, biodiversity, climate impacts, water management, chemical use, and responsible land use. The organization has also supported or helped convene commodity round tables and certification systems, seeking to improve both producer practices and the purchasing behavior of companies. Examples of its work include supporting responsible soy production in Brazil, helping small-scale gold miners reduce mercury use and pursue Fairtrade certification, promoting sustainable palm-oil production and land-use planning in West Africa and Indonesia, and assessing corporate progress on sustainable cotton. These initiatives illustrate Solidaridad's emphasis on translating broad sustainability objectives into producer training, measurement systems, certification, landscape planning, and policy engagement. In 2016, Solidaridad adopted a five-year strategic plan organized around robust infrastructure, good practices, sustainable landscapes, and enabling policy environments. This framework reflected a move beyond individual-farm interventions toward broader market and landscape transformation. In 2018, the organization received the Arrell Global Food Innovation Award, recognizing its contribution to innovation in food systems. Solidaridad remains an active international development organization focused on making global supply chains more sustainable, inclusive, and resilient.

Solidaridad was founded in the Netherlands in 1969 as an international development organization. Over time, its work developed around the relationship between poverty reduction, producer livelihoods, environmental protection, and the behavior of companies operating in international commodity markets. The organization sought practical mechanisms through which producers could obtain better market opportunities while businesses could demonstrate more responsible sourcing. A major turning point came in 1988, when Solidaridad founded the Max Havelaar coffee label. The label provided a recognizable way to connect consumers and retailers with coffee produced under fairer trading arrangements. It is commonly identified as an important early foundation of the Fairtrade movement. In 1996, Solidaridad applied a similar approach to bananas, extending its experience in ethical labeling and responsible supply chains to another globally traded agricultural product. During the 1990s, Solidaridad widened its institutional focus. In addition to consumer labeling, it began working more extensively with companies on corporate social responsibility, certification, and supply-chain improvement. This shift reflected the scale and complexity of global commodity production: changes in consumer behavior alone could not address labor conditions, producer access to finance, land-use change, environmental degradation, or the uneven distribution of value across supply chains. The organization subsequently worked across a broad group of commodities, including coffee, livestock, soy, cocoa, cotton, dairy, tea, textiles, sugarcane, fruit and vegetables, gold, palm oil, and aquaculture. It supported producer training, certification, corporate engagement, and multi-stakeholder round tables. Solidaridad also became involved in commodity-specific initiatives designed to create shared expectations among producers, buyers, civil-society organizations, and public authorities. In soy, Solidaridad became one of the founders and board members of the Round Table on Responsible Soy. In 2017, a Solidaridad-supported project in the Brazilian state of Goiás enabled 18 small and medium-sized farmers in Silvânia and Orizona to obtain certification for 30,125 tonnes of soybeans. The project was described as the first occasion on which small and medium-sized soy growers in Goiás had obtained certification through that system. Solidaridad's cotton work has included market analysis as well as producer assistance. In 2017, it launched the Sustainable Cotton Ranking with the World Wildlife Fund and Pesticide Action Network UK. The ranking assessed 75 companies on their approach to sustainable cotton and reported that most brands were not doing enough to increase their use of more sustainable cotton. In gold, Solidaridad has worked with small-scale mining communities to reduce environmental damage and improve production practices. In Ghana, its programs have helped miners explore mercury-free technologies. In East Africa, Solidaridad partnered with the Fairtrade Foundation, including work connected with the Syanyonja Artisan Miners' Alliance in Uganda. In 2016, that alliance became the first mine in Africa to achieve Fairtrade certification, according to the referenced account. Palm oil became another significant area of activity. Solidaridad has promoted improved land-use planning and better agricultural practices in response to rising demand for palm oil. It launched the Sustainable West Africa Palm Oil Programme in 2014. In Indonesia, Henkel and BASF later collaborated with Solidaridad on a program intended to train 5,500 smallholders in good agricultural practices across approximately 16,000 hectares. In 2016, Solidaridad launched a five-year strategy structured around robust infrastructure, good practices, sustainable landscapes, and enabling policy environments. These themes emphasized that responsible supply chains require more than farm-level technical changes; they also depend on infrastructure, governance, market incentives, and landscape-scale coordination. In 2018, Solidaridad received the Arrell Global Food Innovation Award. The organization now operates through eight regional expertise centers and works in more than 50 countries, continuing to combine field programs with standards, research, corporate partnerships, and policy engagement.

• 2018

  Arrell Global Food Innovation Award received

  [1]Solidaridad (organization)en.wikipedia.org

  Solidaridad wins the Arrell Global Food Innovation Award.

• 2017

  Sustainable Cotton Ranking introduced

  [1]Solidaridad (organization)en.wikipedia.org

  Solidaridad, WWF, and Pesticide Action Network UK publish a ranking assessing the sustainable-cotton performance of 75 companies.

• 2017

  Responsible soy certification project completed in Goiás

  [1]Solidaridad (organization)en.wikipedia.org

  A Solidaridad-supported project helps 18 small and medium-sized farmers in Goiás, Brazil, certify 30,125 tonnes of soybeans.

• 2016

  Five-year strategic plan adopted

  [1]Solidaridad (organization)en.wikipedia.org

  The plan focuses on robust infrastructure, good practices, sustainable landscapes, and enabling policy environments.

• 2016

  Fairtrade certification achieved by a Ugandan artisanal mining alliance

  [1]Solidaridad (organization)en.wikipedia.org

  The Syanyonja Artisan Miners' Alliance in Uganda becomes the first mine in Africa to reach Fairtrade certification, in a partnership involving Solidaridad and the Fairtrade Foundation.

• 2014

  Sustainable West Africa Palm Oil Programme launched

  [1]Solidaridad (organization)en.wikipedia.org

  Solidaridad begins a regional program focused on more sustainable palm-oil production and land-use planning.

• 1996

  Banana labeling initiative introduced

  [1]Solidaridad (organization)en.wikipedia.org

  Solidaridad extends its fair-trade labeling work to bananas.

• 1988

  Max Havelaar coffee label launched

  [1]Solidaridad (organization)en.wikipedia.org

  Solidaridad creates the Max Havelaar coffee label, an important precursor to the Fairtrade movement.

• 1969

  Solidaridad is founded

  [1]Solidaridad (organization)en.wikipedia.org

  The international civil society organization is established in the Netherlands.

An international nonprofit and market-transformation partner connecting producers, companies, governments, and civil society to improve the sustainability and profitability of global commodity supply chains.

• Fair-trade labeling initiative · 1988

  Max Havelaar coffee label

  Created by Solidaridad in 1988, the Max Havelaar coffee label connected coffee production with fairer trading conditions and provided consumers with a recognizable ethical-sourcing signal. It is widely regarded as a formative initiative in the development of the Fairtrade movement. The label represented an early example of Solidaridad's effort to link producer livelihoods, market access, consumer choice, and supply-chain accountability.

• Supply-chain assessment · 2017

  Sustainable Cotton Ranking

  The Sustainable Cotton Ranking was launched by Solidaridad together with the World Wildlife Fund and Pesticide Action Network UK in 2017. It assessed 75 companies on their sustainable-cotton policies and uptake. The initiative was designed to make corporate performance more visible and to encourage brands and retailers to increase the use of cotton produced with improved environmental and social practices.

• Agricultural sustainability program

  Responsible soy programs

  Solidaridad supports responsible soy production through producer assistance, certification, and participation in the Round Table on Responsible Soy. A 2017 project in Goiás, Brazil, helped 18 small and medium-sized farms certify 30,125 tonnes of soybeans. The work addresses production practices and market access while seeking to make responsible soy certification attainable for producers that may otherwise lack the resources to enter such systems.

• Palm-oil sustainability program · 2014

  Sustainable West Africa Palm Oil Programme

  Launched in 2014, the Sustainable West Africa Palm Oil Programme promotes improved land-use planning and more responsible palm-oil production. Its approach is intended to address the environmental and social pressures associated with expanding demand while supporting producers and other supply-chain actors. Solidaridad's palm-oil work also includes smallholder training and collaboration with commercial partners in Indonesia.

• Mining sustainability program

  Responsible small-scale gold mining programs

  Solidaridad works with small-scale gold miners to reduce environmental impacts and improve production practices. In Ghana, its work includes support for mercury-free technologies. In East Africa, it partnered with the Fairtrade Foundation on initiatives connected with artisanal mining communities, including the Syanyonja Artisan Miners' Alliance in Uganda, which achieved Fairtrade certification in 2016.

• 2017Sustainable Cotton Ranking

  Global cotton supply chains

  Solidaridad worked with WWF and Pesticide Action Network UK to evaluate the sustainable-cotton performance of 75 companies.

  Outcome. The published assessment concluded that most brands were not doing enough to increase their use of sustainable cotton.

  Source
• 2017Goiás responsible soy certification project

  Brazil · Soy

  Solidaridad supported certification for soy produced by 18 small and medium-sized farmers in Silvânia and Orizona, Goiás.

  Outcome. The project certified 30,125 tonnes of soybeans and was described as the first such certification opportunity for small and medium-sized soy growers in Goiás.

  Source
• 2016East African responsible gold partnership

  East Africa · Gold

  Solidaridad partnered with the Fairtrade Foundation to support responsible practices among small-scale gold miners.

  Outcome. The Syanyonja Artisan Miners' Alliance in Uganda became the first mine in Africa to achieve Fairtrade certification.

  Source
• 2016Indonesia smallholder palm-oil training partnership

  Indonesia · Palm oil

  Henkel and BASF collaborated with Solidaridad to train smallholders in good agricultural practices.

  Outcome. The stated program scope covered 5,500 smallholders and approximately 16,000 hectares; further results are not provided in the reference material.

  Source
• 2014Sustainable West Africa Palm Oil Programme

  West Africa · Palm oil

  A regional program promoting better land-use planning and more sustainable palm-oil production.

  Outcome. The program established a platform for addressing palm-oil growth alongside environmental and producer concerns; detailed later outcomes are not specified in the reference material.

  Source
• 1988Max Havelaar coffee

  Coffee

  Solidaridad introduced a coffee label intended to improve trading conditions and strengthen recognition of ethically sourced coffee.

  Outcome. The initiative became an important early foundation of the Fairtrade movement.

  Source

• 2016

  Adopt a five-year sustainability strategyStrategy

  Background

  Solidaridad sought to address supply-chain sustainability through coordinated improvements in production, infrastructure, landscapes, and public policy.

  Action taken

  It organized its five-year strategic plan around robust infrastructure, good practices, sustainable landscapes, and enabling policy environments.

  Aftermath

  The framework reinforced a shift toward integrated, landscape-scale and market-level interventions rather than isolated producer projects.

  Source

• 1990

  Expand from labeling into corporate responsibility and certificationStrategy

  Background

  During the 1990s, Solidaridad broadened its work beyond consumer-facing fair-trade labels to address the wider operational and governance problems of international supply chains.

  Action taken

  The organization increased its engagement with companies, corporate social responsibility programs, certification, producer support, and commodity round tables.

  Aftermath

  This became the foundation for a broader market-transformation model spanning multiple agricultural, mining, and food commodities.

  Source

1. 1Solidaridad (organization)en.wikipedia.org
2. 2Solidaridad Network official websitesolidaridadnetwork.org