Tropentag, October 7 - 9, 2008 in Hohenheim "Competition for Resources in a Changing World: New Drive for Rural Development"

Motivation of CSR Orientated Public Private Partnerships in Fisheries and Agriculture Development

¹Leibniz-University of Hannover, Institute of Development and Agricultural Economics, Germany
²World Fish Centre, Aquaculture, Malaysia

Abstract

This paper analyses the possible contribution of private partners to development assistance realised through two instruments: Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Public Private Partnerships (PPPs). As important topics in the field of development assistance, the paper draws on examples from the fisheries and agriculture sector.

A number of corporate social activities can be found in the reporting of multinational enterprises acting in developing countries, including implementation of human rights and fair working conditions in the supply chain, building human capital through education, and reducing pollution. These are not only interesting fields for a responsible corporate management, but also for development policy. As a result, many development agencies interpret CSR as the implementation of their aims at the company level and support this concept through different policies. However, there are also critics who believe the influence of CSR on development is overvalued. Potential problems are seen in the different motivation of companies and development agencies. Responsible acting companies must always be orientated on long term profitability. They will not be orientated on strategic aims of development assistance, even if the fields of CSR activities of companies and projects of development agencies may be similar.

On the other hand, development agencies try to increase efficiency by partnering with profit-orientated companies in special designed PPP programs on the basis of their strategic plans. These aim at a sustainable implementation of development projects. This should increase the impact of development by allocating new financial resources and the use of skills and experiences of the private sector within development assistance projects. In practice many projects fail caused by organisational challenges, different expectations and unclear goals, created by the different motivations of partners.

This paper therefore will analyse the motivational structures of both partners, in order to identify the potential contribution to development assistance and possible limitations of CSR and PPP.

In conclusion, a combination of these instruments - CSR - motivated PPPs - will be discussed to determine their potential to avoid problems and therefore increase the impact on development.

Keywords: Corporate social responsibility, corporate development responsibility, public private partnerships, fisheries, aquaculture, development assistance

Contact Address: Lena Hohfeld, Leibniz-University of Hannover, Institute of Development and Agricultural Economics, Hannover, Germany, e-mail: Lena.Hohfeldgmx.de