Environmental, Social, and Economic Impacts of Sustainability Certification in the Agricultural Sector – The Current State of Empirical Research

Summary

Various stakeholders involved with sustainability certification are interested in knowing whether certification really fulfills its promises. Business managers who have to determine what type of products to source, consumers who are concerned about making appropriate buying decisions for themselves and their families, producers who think about obtaining certification, and sustainability standard initiatives that themselves need arguments to support their certification programs.
A recent study conducted by FiBL (Niggli et al 2011) reviewed the current state of empirical research on environmental, social, and economic impacts of sustainability certification in the agricultural sector. One result of the study was that a disproportionate number of research papers are on the impacts of organic standards in comparison to the other labels under investigation (Fairtrade, Sustainable Agriculture Standard certified by the Rainforest Alliance, UTZ Certified, Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, and Roundtable on Responsible
Soy).