The corporate social responsibility paradox: Present-day firm challenges in the cacao sector of Indonesia

Abstract

Some radical transformations are taking place in the Indonesian cacao sector that are highly relevant for the further development of far-reaching corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainable entrepreneurship. Leading international firms in the cacao sector of Indonesia are increasingly seeking sustainable long-term solutions and innovations by adapting a variety of context-specific measures through dialogue, negotiation, and collaboration with various stakeholders in order to secure the long-term production of cacao by smallholder farmers. At first sight, this seems highly paradoxical: they are in the process of upgrading their CSR activities, but avoid labelling it as such. In this chapter, we examine the contemporary policies and practices of these leading firms, and their collaborations with other stakeholders in the field, to unravel this paradox. Based on the findings, we argue that the CSR debate needs to be reframed and moved from a consumer-informed to a producer-informed approach - shifting the focus from downstream consumption to upstream production, i.e. sustainable production and entrepreneurship.