Borrowing from Local Institutions in the Configuration of a Private Certification Scheme

Abstract
In the implementation of sustainability measures in agriculture, such as voluntary private certification schemes, local governance and institutions are of crucial importance. Their role is often overlooked when discussing the feasibility and scope of private regulations for better use of resources. This case-study explores the dynamics between local institutions and the requirements of the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil Group Certification (RSPO). The Roundtable scheme was implemented for the first time in 2013 among a group of Indonesian independent smallholder farmers: the Amanah Association in Riau, Sumatra. The research employs an interdisciplinary methodology, technography, to explore the interface between the new technical and the social aspects of this intervention. I investigate to what extent the certification rules and control measures have been embedded in the farmers’ social fabric. The main mechanism found for the establishment of the Roundtable scheme was the borrowing the skills and authorities from existing groups while installing different rules within their institutional context. I highlight how one single intervention, through a series of mechanisms, gives way to outcomes of both friction and embedment, within one single case-study. In the light of the outcomes reported, it is discussed to what extent ‘borrowing’ from local institutions is a feasible configuration mechanism for sustaining an external framework in the long term. I argue that an interdisciplinary approach to studying sustainability measures and development interventions is critical for understanding what social mechanisms and technical interventions work under what conditions, for better governance in agricultural practices.