Adoção de práticas sustentáveis por cafeicultores do sul de Minas Gerais para atender exigências de cadeias de suprimentos

Abstract

In recent years, interest in the subject of supply chains has increased significantly, accompanied by issues of sustainable practices, whether in the academic field or the private sector. Thus, Sustainable Supply Chain Management (SSCM) has become indispensable for decision-making in organizations and government actions. Initially, concerns regarding

sustainable practices have been especially prominent in organizations worldwide. However, co- responsibility among supply chain agents has become more evident and necessary, forcing

sustainable actions to be introduced and carried out optimally since, if an agent in the chain acts inconsistently with sustainable practices compared to others, the entire production process may be compromised. Although studies on supply chains and SSCMs have gained notoriety, little is known about the perceptions of sustainable practices by coffee producers. Therefore, this work aimed to fill this gap and capture the perspectives of coffee producers in the southern region of Minas Gerais to understand how coffee growers practice sustainable practices required by SSCM. Using the Transaction Cost Economics approach, analyzes were conducted to obtain an overview of sustainable practices carried out by coffee producers. The first part of this work was based on analyzing studies focused on the sustainable supply chain through documental and bibliometric analysis. In the second part, interviews were carried out with four coffee producers from the southern region of Minas Gerais to understand how and why they seek to act sustainably within the coffee chain. The results found a considerable gap between studies seeking to understand coffee producers within the supply chain and those studying organizations. When it comes to sustainable practices, there are more studies that focus on organizations and stakeholders than on coffee growers themselves. The interviews showed considerable informal asymmetry among coffee producers regarding the concepts of what are supply chains, sustainable practices, and new business opportunities, although they are aware of and practice sustainable management of their properties. Finally, although there is no consensus regarding where the motivations to act sustainably come from, most interviees believed that certifications have a vital role for coffee producers to understand and adopt good management practices, production, and even coffee commercialization sustainably, thus guaranteeing a more competitive coffee in the national market and, above all, in the international market.