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.

Two new videos and a flyer explain the advantages and best practices of agroforestry in the Sahel region for farmers and extensionists. They have been developed by the Horizon 2020 project SustainSahel, which is coordinated by FiBL Switzerland.