In recent years, Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) principles have become integral to sustainable investing and corporate responsibility. These ESG criteria enable investors to align financial goals with values-based objectives, emphasizing environmental stewardship and good governance. However, to deepen its impact, ESG must include a critical aspect: gender equality.
Gender equality is a human right and a key pillar to sustainable development and economic growth. In the Philippines, women make up a significant portion (approximately 25%) of the agriculture workforce, contributing vital labor. Despite this, research shows that they are often excluded from decision-making roles, especially for wives who provide labor and contribute money to their family farm. Moreover, farms managed by men tend to be more profitable, highlighting gender-based disparities in access to resources and opportunities. This perpetuates a cycle of inequality, with women more likely to live in poverty compared to their male counterparts.
Integrating gendered ESG (G-ESG) principles in agriculture offers a pathway for the agriculture sector to address these inequalities. Taking a gender lens approach in cacao farming initiatives enables women to drive economic resilience, lead community development, and foster long-term sustainability for future generations, underscoring why these initiatives are crucial for enabling women to take on leadership roles.
INTEGRATING G-ESG IN VALUE CHAINS
The integration of G-ESG practices in cocoa value chains was the main subject of the October 2024 Global Agribusiness Management and Entrepreneurship (GAME) Expo, hosted by Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA) Philippines and the Philippines Partnership for Sustainable Agriculture (PPSA). The session “Understanding G-ESG in Agribusiness: What it is, its synergies, and trade offs?” sought to explore how G-ESG can be integrated in agribusinesses and cooperatives.
MEDA champions a G-ESG approach, embedding gender equality into its ESG framework to ensure that women and men are treated equitably in all environmental, social, and governance policies and practices. One of the key aspects of the Resilience and Inclusion through Investment for Sustainable Agrikultura (RIISA) Project is understanding systemic marginalization at both household and community levels. By considering the different needs and circumstances of each stakeholder in the cacao value chain, the project seeks to overcome the barriers and challenges through inclusive and targeted strategies.
MEDA Philippines Market Systems Development Technical Lead, Jerick Axalan, emphasized that they work closely with small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and cooperatives to develop long-term action plans which aim to integrate gender in businesses, persisting despite challenging trade-offs such as higher initial costs.
“Gendered ESG is a new concept; many cooperatives are not yet familiar with G-ESG. The good thing is that, even if there are limitations to implementation at the start, the most important thing is to understand the crucial role of gender awareness—you have to change their mindsets. It takes a lot of effort and behavioral change to successfully adopt G-ESG," Jerick explained.
G-ESG IN ACTION: LESSONS FROM THE FIELD
The session also brought together women leaders in the agriculture sector who are implementing G-ESG in their respective agribusinesses and cooperatives. They shared their experiences integrating G-ESG, the key lessons learned, and opportunities that can help scale G-ESG in the sector.
As a women-led cooperative of cocoa producers, Laak Multi-Purpose Cooperative (LMPC) General Manager Edesa Morante shared how their cooperative is adopting G-ESG practices, especially on gender equality. Their engagement with the RIISA Project helped them integrate gender equality into the cooperative’s operations, and train women and men as “gender equality champions” to be role models of gender equality for others in the cooperative. The cooperative also allotted an educational training fund for a gender equality training program that will educate farmers and empower the women in their cooperative. Edesa also recognized that commitment to adopting G-ESG practices can be a challenge, especially in changing the farmers’ accustomed practices.
Edesa emphasized that continuous training and cascading activities are crucial in changing the mindsets of farmers. “Dahan-dahan, ma-eeducate mo ang mga farmers, pero hindi mo makukuha ang 100%. Sa una, 30% lang, pero hindi mo talaga titigilan ‘yan. Paulit ulit na trainings ang kailangan.” (Slowly, we can educate the farmers, but we know that we won’t get 100% right away. At first, you might only get 30%, but you can’t stop there. You have to continuously train the farmers.)
On the other hand, social enterprise, Morination Agricultural Products, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Sharon Jean Gonzales-Gulmatico, emphasized how a women-led enterprise can thrive through G-ESG integration. Prioritizing G-ESG helps agribusinesses become more profitable in the long run. It fosters trust and balances profitability and sustainability. Their social enterprise implements fair trade, sustainable practices, and ensures equitable opportunities across its supply chain.
“We also work with our growers for them to work with our own corporate goals and the broader Sustainable Development Goals. Morination has been women-empowered from its onset. 90% of Morination’s ecosystem is composed of women leaders. We're 60% women-owned and 40% of our management board is composed of women. For 10 years, we’ve been working with women in meeting our deliverables,” highlighted Sharon.
Meanwhile, manufacturer, Auro Chocolate, Chief Executive Officer, Kelly Go, highlighted their commitment to gender equality by adopting gender-responsive hiring practices and incorporating gender considerations into its business operations. Kelly also shared that Auro’s largest challenge is the division of work among women and men. Certain roles in the industry tend to attract more male applicants, leading to a gender imbalance in job applications.
“Our goal is to have representation, with people and women in key roles,” emphasized Kelly. “We put sustainability and people at the very core of the business. Every single thing we do—even the simple things—we’ve always been trying in our own way to incorporate G-ESG already.”
ADVANCING G-ESG THROUGH PARTNERSHIPS
Edesa emphasized that Laak MPC’s partnership with the RIISA project allowed their cooperative to expand, educate, and train their members through technical assistance and capacity building activities with RIISA’s gender-responsive programming. This partnership also enabled them to slowly overcome barriers and challenging trade-offs in adopting G-ESG practices. It also empowered them to recognize that farming holds a lot of potential as a business and should not be looked down upon.
Meanwhile, Kelly shared that one of Auro’s main concerns is maximizing the quality of cacao in terms of flavor. The agribusiness spends a lot of time meeting different cacao farming communities and assessing problems, and how Auro can work with partners to assist them. Through MEDA and the RIISA Project’s training and financial resources, Auro achieved organic cacao certification for Saloy Organic Farmers Association, one of their supported cacao farming communities. This certification opens up new markets, promotes healthier farms and products, and enhances biodiversity in cacao-growing areas.
“During the certification process, which is mostly focusing on environment, we were able to lump [gender] in together with our RIISA project. Gender is really important. Auro is able to look at it more closely and gather statistics to be able to understand what’s happening,” shared Kelly.
Sharon highlighted Morination’s partnership with various organizations like the United Nations (UN) and its Global Compact Network, enabling them to adopt principles of anti-corruption, labor rights, and environmental protection. These partnerships strengthened Morination’s role in the supply chain, ensuring goods reach the consumers while supporting farmers to meet technical requirements and set their own prices.
“One of the reasons farmers feel oppressed is because they don’t have the power to dictate on their prices. Hence, fair trade as an ESG approach is empowering for rural farmers,” mentions Sharon.
Morination also works with other organizations in drafting the Free Trade Agreement between the European Union (EU) and the Philippine government. Meeting ESG compliance regulations is crucial for their participation in international markets. Sharon also shared that through PPSA’s support, Morination was part of a training on responsible investing and ESG risk mitigation at Nanyang Technological University. PPSA also provided monitoring and evaluation tools, helping Morination ensure transparency, avoid greenwashing and foster accountability—a critical advantage for smaller organizations navigating these requirements.
A PATH FORWARD
The discussions highlighted the crucial role of integrating a gender lens in ESG practices to advance environmental sustainability and social inclusion in the agriculture sector. It promotes gender-responsive leadership, drives equitable access to resources and opportunities, fosters fair work conditions, facilitates market access, and ensures that sustainability efforts create a lasting impact across value chains. Moreover, adopting G-ESG not only enables SMEs, agribusinesses, and cooperatives to contribute to addressing systemic inequalities and fostering inclusive practices, it also provides them with an opportunity to leverage partnerships, innovate, and drive meaningful change in the industry.
Sharon emphasized, “To meet targets with partners and to maximize collaboration, the proper adoption of best practices is necessary. Once you are in a community [of organizations], you get to learn [from their] experiences regarding these best practices.”
However, the path towards inclusion and sustainability requires collective action. Everyone has a role to play in scaling up G-ESG practices across value chains. Strengthening the cacao value chains cannot be done in isolation. Collaborations and partnerships are essential to scale up G-ESG practices that in the long run, ensure that no one is left behind, regardless of their gender. Small steps such as improving hiring and fair trade practices can create a ripple effect not only in the cacao value chain, but also in the lives of smallholder farmers and their communities. On the other hand, policies and investments that support initiatives that prioritize gender equality and equitable access to resources and opportunities are critical to fostering resilient and sustainable agri-food systems.
“We work with different stakeholders to influence them in terms of policies. Our ultimate impact is achieving greater prosperity for both women and men, particularly smallholders, enabling them to attain economic growth,” said Jerick.
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About MEDA: The RIISA Project, implemented by MEDA and funded by Global Affairs Canada, targets 5,400 smallholder farmers—40% of whom are women—and indirectly benefits 25,000 farmers through partnerships with cooperatives, associations, and SMEs. Through gender-responsive training and capacity strengthening initiatives, the project promotes environmentally sustainable livelihoods and profitable agribusiness opportunities and supports farmers to adopt sustainable and inclusive practices. MEDA also partnered with PPSA in developing the project’s Strategic Learning Agenda (SLA) and co-creating knowledge products on G-ESG practices.
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