7 - 9 April 2008, 9:00 - 18:00,
Ngurdoto Mountain Lodge,
Arusha, United Republic of Tanzania,
Key Issues
There has been a proliferation of private sector and NGO initiatives to set standards and certification programmes for food since the early 1990s, notably in developed countries. In addition to the physical quality of food, consumers are increasingly demanding proof of meeting specific production-, environment-, and ethics-related parameters. This includes a wide range of quality, environmental, social or cultural issues such as traceability of products, documentation of best agricultural practices, occupational safety, lower environmental impact, fair return to producers, assurance of labour rights and animal welfare.
While most of these standards aim at shifting towards more sustainable production methods, they can be difficult to meet, cause additional certification costs and can complicate access to export markets, in particular for small-scale farmers in developing countries. Growing consumer demand for environmentally and socially preferable products presents new opportunities for those producers that can be produced in more environmentally and socially friendly ways - and can effectively communicate this fact to consumers. An illustrative example is the rapid expansion of organic agriculture markets, with global growth rates over 12% for the past decade compared to overall agriculture market growth of 2-4 %.
Purpose of the event
The spread of sustainability standards presents challenges and opportunities for smallholder farmers in developing countries who comprise the majority of the world's poor.
This UNCTAD XII pre-event will:
- Analyze the impact of the spread of sustainability standards on small-scale farmers in developing countries, particularly in Africa
- Map effective strategies to minimize the costs and maximize the benefits of this persistent and important global trend for smallholders
- Identify real economic, social and environmental win-win-win opportunities and related supportive policies and supportive/flanking measures
The recommendations of the meeting will be presented at a side event at UNCTAD XII on 22 April 2007, entitled Making Sustainability Standards Work for Pro-poor Agricultural Development and Trade.
| The pre-event is being organized by UNCTAD in cooperation with FAO, ITC, UNEP, the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD); the Tanzania Organic Agriculture Movement (TOAM); the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU); the International Social and Environmental Accreditation and Labelling Alliance (ISEAL); and the Export Promotion of Organic Products from Africa (EPOPA) project. |