Emerging Practice in Responsible Supply Chain Management: Closed-Pipe Supply Chain of Conflict-Free Minerals from the Democratic Republic of Congo

Minerals originated from eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are blamed for financing violent conflict in the area over the past decade and have been called conflict minerals. They vividly demonstrate a key human rights issue facing responsible supply chain management. The conflict minerals issue has led to a significant shift in responsible supply chain management in two ways: extending producer responsibility to respect human rights in the total supply chain through establishing traceability and transparency; and developing legally binding supply chain responsibility.This article examines an emerging effort to source conflict-free minerals using closed-pipe supply chain in the DRC as a new strategy to respond to the above paradigm shift. By exploring whether this new strategy can contribute to conflict prevention in the DRC, this article argues that the closed-pipe supply chain allows building long-term relationship with various stakeholders and has the potential to transform socio-economic structures in the producing communities, thereby leading to peacebuilding in the long run.