Promoting stronger governance in MSMEs

Global traceability organizations, such as the Forest Stewardship Council, the Marine Stewardship Council and UTZ Certified, engage with stakeholders along the entire value chain. This allows for the development of a credible and robust chain of custody standards and certification for products from the raw material to the final use phase. Dipantara, a small community wood trading initiative in the province of Java, Indonesia, has developed a group business model aimed at helping smallholder farmers and farmers’ groups in the region sell their wood to the international market. Maisons du Monde, a UN Global Compact participant signatory, and The Forest Trust homeware retail member has supported the Dipantara farmers’ initiative by placing orders for its stores. Dipantara, as a non-profit business entity, partners with farmers’ groups and farmers that have registered with the business. It has successfully helped these farmer groups achieve Forest Stewardship Council certification. The initiative’s efforts help buyers identify the source of wood and trace it back to the tree stump, while at the same time increasing revenues for farmers with smallholdings.