DEVELOPING A SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT METRICS FRAMEWORK FOR SUSTAINABLE FARMING

Hilltribe Organics (HTO) is a Northern Thailand-based social enterprise dedicated to improving the living standards of small farmers and sustaining their communities. HTO aims to protect the environment through sustainable farming, improve human health with organic free-range egg products, and create a lasting social impact by enhancing farmers’ family income and women’s economic independence. HTO enlisted a Capstone team to develop a framework to measure and track the social and environmental impact of HTO’s practices. The team evaluated the impact of B-Corp and Biodynamic certifications, reviewed the literature on common impact measurement practices, conducted a landscape analysis on five comparable enterprises, and interviewed HTO’s business partners. The team synthesized its findings in a final report, providing recommendations on data collection and appropriate impact metrics to guide HTO’s strategic development endeavors.