Goodness Guaranteed

Assessing the impact of sustainability certification on the labour conditions of farm workers

Publication

F. Scheele

1 May 2015

Increasingly popular and widely implemented sustainability certification schemes like Rainforest Alliance, Fairtrade and UTZ Certified aim to improve the working conditions of workers on farms in developing countries producing food for Western markets. This study shows that sustainability certification indeed benefits workers, but that working conditions on certified farms are not yet on a par with internationally agreed standards.

The aim of this study is to contribute to the understanding of the impact of sustainability certification on working conditions in large scale production of food and agricultural commodities in developing countries. The results of this study are to support policy makers in governments, civil society, companies and sustainability certiﬁ cations to improve approaches to ensure decent working conditions for agricultural workers in developing countries.