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Project Highlights
Funders
Tinker Foundation
Partners
Led by the SAN Secretariat with Fundación Natura, this effort grounds monitoring and assurance in the people who live and farm the landscape—pairing SAN’s technical rigor with local partnership to create a system communities trust and agribusinesses can rely on.
Implementation dates
July 2023
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December 2024
Commodities
Coffee
Beneficiaries
Farmer associations and smallholders (locally led monitoring, better practices), agribusiness buyers/compliance teams (stronger due diligence, credible claims), local governments (landscape data for programs), and community networks (greater resilience and inclusion).
About the project
This initiative builds a community-based monitoring and assurance system that works for rural communities and the agribusinesses backing regenerative agriculture. It responds to mounting pressures—deforestation, soil degradation, worker exploitation, tighter regulations, and rising consumer expectations—by moving beyond traditional, top-down voluntary standards that often shift certification costs onto smallholders. Instead, it champions inclusive, locally led monitoring that meaningfully engages disadvantaged farmers and ensures sustainability benefits—and responsibilities—are shared more equitably across the supply chain.
Outcomes
By putting data in the hands of farmer associations, SAN’s Community-Based Monitoring & Assurance System (CMAS) turned landscape governance into a locally led, evidence-driven process. Communities now track and share performance at scale, companies can run stronger due-diligence and make credible claims, and local networks are anchoring long-term resilience. The Colombia pilot surpassed every adoption target—engaging 303 farmers (vs. 80 planned) across 69 villages (vs. 4), four associations (vs. 3), and 2,540 hectares (vs. 240), with eight trained community monitors (vs. 4). Where farms received two or more visits, 88% improved their practices. With associations like ASOPEP and ASOVOVIGA requiring CMAS use—and interest from the “Glyphosate-Free Planadas” municipal program—the system is proving both practical for agribusiness and empowering for communities.
