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Responsible Business Conduct

At KIT Institute, we help businesses and their partners to better understand and address the impacts of their operations across global value chains. We emphasise responsible business conduct (RBC) as a means for organisations to move beyond ‘doing no harm’ to proactively contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals.

Our work focuses on gender equality, human rights, child labor and securing a living income for people involved in global value chains. Strengthening sustainability standards and certifications is also key to our approach.

RBC is a societal obligation for all businesses – bearing in mind that their needs and capacity to effect change differ significantly. That is why we work explicitly with small and local entrepreneurs to strengthen their position in value chains, while supporting them to reduce social and environmental risks and improve working conditions. We support their capacity to do business, improve their access to markets and financial services, and facilitate the development of other enabling conditions, including institutions and infrastructure.

Contact us

Do you have a question or want to know more? Contact us by sending an e-mail.

Publications

  • A Social Relations of Gender Analysis of Artisanal and Small-scale Mining in Africa’s Great Lakes Region

    • Institute
    • Publication

    Much research on gender and artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) has tended to focus on describing the different roles women undertake in mining, while there has been less attention to how gender relations are constructed, reinforced and challenged in and through ASM. Drawing from desk and field research in the Great Lakes Region of Africa, […]

  • Alternative finance in commodity chains

    • Institute
    • Publication

    Working Paper Alternative Finance How small entrepreneurs and farmers can benefit from novel ways of financing. Access to affordable and reliable financing in agrifood commodity chains is of key importance for all actors along the chain, to use as working capital, and to invest in capital assets. There are a wide range of financing instruments […]

  • Harnessing blockchain technology for commodity chains

    • Institute
    • Publication

    With a wide range of potential benefits – such as improved traceability, food safety, and environmental sustainability, as well as increased farmer income– blockchain has become an increasingly popular technology option for commodity value chains. Yet, there is little knowledge among agri-food professionals of how the technology works, and there is (still) limited evidence of […]

  • Lindt & Sprüngli Farming Program: Impact Evaluation Ghana

    • Institute
    • Publication

    Executive Summary This report presents the findings of an impact evaluation of the Lindt & Sprüngli (L&S) Farming Program in Ghana carried out by KIT Royal Tropical Institute in 2019. Based on quantitative and qualitative methods, the evaluation covered a variety of topics in line with the program’s Theory of Change. To track change over […]

  • Sexual & Gender-Based Violence in Mining in Africa

    • Institute
    • Publication

    This study offers a thorough review of the evidence around Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) in the mining sector in sub-Saharan Africa, with a particular focus on the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda. Whilst SGBV can be experienced by anyone, this paper predominantly explores the experiences of women. Notably, it […]

Sustainable Economic Development Topics

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