Addressing smallholder poverty: the role of sustainability standards

Briefing or opinion
Webinar

Published 22nd February 2022 by Evidensia, IISD (International Institute for Sustainable Development) and Living Income Community of Practice.

Summary

There are an estimated 500 million smallholder farmer families globally, many of whom make up a large portion of the world’s poor. With 2030 fast approaching, achieving SDG 1’s target of eradicating extreme poverty for all people necessitates addressing smallholder poverty with urgency. This Evidensia learning event, in partnership with IISD (International Institute for Sustainable Development) and the Living Income Community of Practice, explores what role voluntary sustainability standards can play in achieving this and how. It shares insights from IISD’s new review on Standards and Poverty Reduction that examines the criteria of 13 widely adopted global voluntary standards, reviews the latest evidence of standards in practice, and learnings from stakeholder interviews conducted jointly with UNCTAD across six commodity value chains countries in Africa, Latin America, and Asia. We'll explore questions such as: To what extent do leading voluntary agricultural standards include poverty in their standards' scope? And how can we leverage the role of VSS to do better on poverty reduction and enhance producer voice and empowerment? It also explores how living income strategies can enhance opportunities and improve smallholder resilience and hear from community representatives and practitioners working in this space on how they can partner with business and government to drive pro-poor impact. Speakers: Sara Elder, Policy Advisor, IISD | Luis Martínez Villanueva, Director general de la Coordinadora Mexicana de Pequeños Productores de Comercio Justo | Rita Mendez, Senior Coordinator, ISEAL and Living Income Community of Practice | Emma Dennis, Senior Manager, Better Cotton | Emese Van Maanen, Managing Director, Proterra Foundation. This recording includes some sections in Spanish.
Research detail

View details of the primary research behind this resource

Standards and Poverty Reduction: State of Sustainability Initiatives Review

Synthesis paper
Research report

Published 22nd February 2022 by Evidensia, IISD (International Institute for Sustainable Development) and Living Income Community of Practice.

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