Sustainable food systems require mechanisms that assure consumers about the sustainability of agricultural production. Building on the existing literature on the impact of sustainability standards, this study is the first to assess the effectiveness of participatory guarantee systems (PGS) for the certification of organic produce. The study uses representative farm-level data on local vegetable value chains in northern Vietnam and uses a broad set of sustainability outcomes as well as counterfactual analysis, including systematic robustness checks. The results show that PGS significantly improves farm profitability (+117%), agroecology performance (+40%), and gives farmers more choice of sales channels (+23%). However, PGS had no significant effect on returns to labour and reduced the average crop yield.

This paper aims to support diferentiation between sustainable and unsustainable agricultural production, with a view to

enabling a transformative agricultural trade system by incentivizing sustainable agricultural production. We argue that

transformative governance of corresponding global trade fows will need to provide support to the weaker participants

in production systems, above all small-scale farmers in the global South, in order to support their food security and a path

out of poverty as well as global environmental goals. The present article seeks to provide an overview of internationally

agreed norms that can serve as basis for diferentiation between sustainable and unsustainable agricultural systems. Such

common objectives and benchmarks could then be used in multilateral and binational trade agreements.

A transnational project, which is being implemented in four countries on two continents, is dedicated to the rediscovery and rehabilitation of traditional local seeds.

Switzerland has played a significant role in shaping the development cooperation landscape in Latin America and the Caribbean over the past six decades. This broad meta-analysis provides a comprehensive overview of SDC’s bilateral engagement in eight countries in Latin America over six decade. In 2025, Switzerland will embark on a new chapter of collaboration with Latin America and the Caribbean.