Bureau for the Appraisal of Social Impacts
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Pesticides are often in the news. We can read or hear about them in new research publications, political agendas, and numerous campaigns and press releases. Meanwhile, the future of European agriculture and sustainable food systems is being negotiated in the form of the EU Farm-to-Fork strategy (which calls for a 50% reduction of pesticide use…
BASIC’s latest study shows that DAX 30 companies have distributed an increasing part of their profits to shareholders and built up growing financial reserves since 2009, while, according to the EU, the investments to become climate neutral by 2050 will have to be much higher than current levels in order to meet the Paris agreement.…
From precision farming to smartphone applications that scan products, and the arrival of the web giants (GAFAM), digital technologies are transforming the food system in every way. This evolution, often presented as necessary and unavoidable, is however far from being neutral on our models of production and consumption. This is what our study investigates, carried…
In order to better inform consumers’ choices and public decision-makers, BASIC has jointly developed with Greenpeace and WWF an innovative methodology to assess the social, economic and environmental impacts of sustainability labels and standards in the food sector.
What would be the socio-economic consequences of an ecological transition of the French food system by 2050? Under what conditions and to what extent can this transition be job-creating, fair and beneficial in terms of nutrition and health? These are the questions that Basic and Iddri have been investigating since 2018. The main results were…
On March 9, Arte TV has broadcasted the documentary “Fast Fashion: The real Price of low-cost fashion” which is based on our investigation of Zara’s business model published in 2020.
To what extend public and private financing play a role in changing or maintaining agricultural systems which use pesticides in France? BASIC has investigated this question throughout 2020, developing an innovative research framework to provide objective answers. The results have been published in partnership with the Foundation Nicolas Hulot for Nature and Humankind which makes…
Is France keeping its international commitments in favour of an agroecological transition? To help answer this question, Basic has developed on behalf of CCFD-Terre Solidaire, Oxfam France and Action Contre la Faim the first database allowing an exhaustive analysis of agricultural projects funded by the French State in countries eligible to Official Development Assistance.
Greenpeace France has published in September 2020 a study carried out by BASIC on the environmental benefits of vegetarian menus in French school canteens, one year after the entry into force of the EGAlim law which made their introduction compulsory.
BASIC has presented in June 2020 the results of its latest study on the creation and distribution of value, costs and margins for chocolate products consumed on the French market, considered as a first step towards a better understanding of these issues at the European level, which has been conducted on behalf of the European…
Oxfam France and BASIC have investigated the distribution of the value created by the companies listed in the French CAC 40 since the last financial crisis (2009-2018). The main data collected and processed for the study are made freely available to the general public on a dedicated portal developed by BASIC: The distribution of value…
Our joint investigation with Public Eye and the “Colletcif Ethique sur l’Etiquette” into the conditions in which one of the iconic hoodies sold by the Zara brand reveals the backdrop of this leader of the “Fast Fashion” which presents itself as a transparent company that attaches a great importance to the people who produce its…
What would be the impacts (on my territory, on rural employment, on the environment …) if my family, my school, my city… change the sourcing of their food? What if they consume local and organic products? What if they change the composition of their diets?
The latest study conducted by BASIC for Oxfam Germany shows the indecent living conditions of workers and small producers in Assam, India, despite the fantastic creation of value at the other end of the chain in Europe and the United States.
In the continuation of the Convention on the State of Food Systems organized by the French government in 2017, BASIC analyzed for the French Environmental Agency (ADEME) the feasibility of calculating the costs of environmental externalities of food products throughout their life cycle, and of integrating these costs in food catering public tenders. The final…
Small-scale producers grow most of the rice in Asia, which plays a significant role in providing food security, jobs and income across the region. The research conduct by BASIC for Oxfam International demonstrates the worsening inequality of value distribution in rice domestic chains and the crippling impacts of climate change which, in combination, are leaving…
On December 19th, 2018 a major achievement was reached when the European Trialogue (Commission, Council and Parliament) concluded a deal on the future EU rules against Unfair Trading Practices. The result of 5 years of intense advocacy work by civil society organizations.
On 18th December, BASIC was invited to present in Brussels the results of its latest study on the social and environmental challenges of the coffee sector at a conference on the European external cooperation organized by the General Directorate for Development and Cooperation (DG DEVCO).
The French Chocolate Manufacturers’ Association invited BASIC to open its public conference organized on the World Cocoa Day at the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs.
At a time when international coffee prices are falling, to such an extent that some Latin-American producers are refusing to sell their crops, Commerce Equitable France, Max Havelaar France, the Rethinking Value Chains Network and Basic have published a groundbreaking study about coffee based on a socioeconomic analysis of the sector and three specific case…
The latest study published on June 21st by the international network Oxfam on inequality in global value chains is based on an extended research conducted by BASIC. It provides for the first time estimates of the value distribution over the past 20 years for food products sourced from the Global South.
Two years after our first report ‘Foul Play’, our new study in collaboration with the Collectif Ethique sur Etiquette and the Clean Clothes Campaig goes further in analysing the business model of Nike and Adidas, and assessing its impact on workers in garment factories.
Since the financial crisis, more than two third of profits posted by French biggest companies have been bagged by shareholders. The distribution of wealth between the various stakeholders in CAC 40 companies has never been so uneven. While rewards for shareholders and CEOs have rocketed since the financial crisis, workers have seen their pay stagnate;…
The General Assembly on Agriculture (États généraux de l’agriculture) brought the issue of value creation and distribution in the agri-food sector into the public debate. The concentration of mass retailers and their ability to capture an increasing share of the value added have been singled out as a major factor impacting the sustainability of this…
The latest study made by BASIC for Oxfam Deutschland highlights the price pressure of German supermarket chains on the South African wine and table grape industry and the unsustainable conditions for agricultural workers on the plantations. In recent years, the South African wine industry has suffered greatly, with only 15 percent of wine producers still working…
In 2016, French companies extracting natural resources in developing countries made their payments to the governments of these countries public for the first time, detailing the payments for each of their projects. BASIC investigated these data together with the ‘Publish What you Pay’ coalition.
For each euro of profit generated by publishing novels in France, there is a hidden cost of 75 cents on society and the environment.
Kiwis eat more than 90,000 tonnes of banana per year, more than 10 tonnes an hour! But only 1 in 14 of New Zealand’s bananas are Fairtrade. Two years after our report on the value distribution in European banana chains, we investigated the little-documented overseas market of New Zealand.
BASIC has presented its latest study during the French Fair Trade Fortnight : « The Dark Side of Chocolate » explores the value distribution in global cocoa chains, evaluates the social, health and environmental impacts generated in Ivory Coast and Peru, and estimates the hidden costs offset on society; it also explores to what extent Fair Trade can…
To manufacture the official jersey of the German national team sold at 85€ by Adidas, a textile worker will earn less than 0,65€. At the same time, the three bands’ brand could spend over 1 billion euros in a sponsoring contract to outbid Nike’s proposal to the German national team.
On 1st December 2015, we released our report on the private sponsors of the COP 21 in partnership with the Multinational’s Observatory : “COP 21 : can transnational companies save the climate ?”
10 November 2015 (Brussels) Our new report for the ‘Make Fruit Fair campaign’ shows how increasing market power and Unfair Trading Practices of European supermarkets affect banana small farmers and plantation workers
The concept of “externalities”, favoured by some economists, has had a growing influence on decision-makers and on the media. Although controversial, it has enabled an increasing proportion of the population to become aware of the hidden costs of something (what is its “real” cost?) as well as its social cost (what is the cost to…
Following the launch of our report “Who’s got the power?” which we presented in November 2015 in the European Parliament, we have developed a new video “Chocostar’z” which presents the main results of our research, coproduced with the partners of the study: FTAO, the French Fair Trade Platform and Fairtrade Germany. This video has a dozen different subtitles…
On Tuesday, November 18th, Fair Trade Advocacy, Traidcraft, Fairtrade Deutschland and the French Fairtrade Platform launched their new campaign on the concentration of power in agricultural value chains, based on a research conducted by BASIC. The event took place in the European Parliament, in the presence of Mairead Mc Guiness, Vice President of the European…
At the end of 2013, the announcement of the massive investment of Synutra, a giant Chinese food company, which decided to build a large milk production plant in French Brittany revived the debate on the “intensification” of milk production in a context of large demonstrations against mega farms. If some consider this investment (which could…
On September 24th 2013, Oxfam Germany published its new report “Billige bananen wer Zahlt den preis? (Bananas at low cost, who pays the price?) based on a research conducted by BASIC (available here) as a follow-up of the study made for Fairtrade Foundation last February. Based on an extensive literature review, international trade statistics and…
On February 24th 2013, the Fairtrade Foundation’s new policy report “Britain’s Bruising Banana Wars” was released, based on a study we conducted in partnership with the NGO Banana Link between September and December 2013. The objective of our research was to analyze how the price wars on bananas between the British retailers is affecting the…
