Overview
Participatory Guarantee Systems (PGS) facilitate the building of closer relationships among food producers and consumers involved in short sup- ply-chains by enabling for quality certification to take place on a local level. Organic producers and consumers use PGS to create healthy and resilient local food systems, to make organic certification more affordable and accessible, and to build trust and relationships.
Our world’s food and farming systems currently face multiple challenges ranging from increasing hunger, climate change, and biodiversity loss to farmers and food workers not earning a decent income. The way we produce and consume food can either alleviate or exacerbate these conditions.
— IFOAM - Organics InternationaL
The modern organic movement started as a response to industrial agriculture systems, with independent small-scale farmers choosing to sell their products locally and build direct relationships with their consumers. As organic began to grow as a sector, supply chains lengthened, meaning that the number of people and processes between the farmer and the family eating the food increased. Private, for-profit, third-party certification of foods became the norm. In many countries, including the United States, the use of the term “organic” is now regulated by the government and can only be used by producers with accredited third-party organic certification.
The organic sector is increasingly dominated by largescale agribusinesses that only produce one type of crop and long supply chains. Many small farmers are not able to manage the costs and paperwork requirements of third-party organic certification, and people living in areas where organic food is produced are often unable to access or afford that food.
Participatory guarantee systems (PGS) provide an alternative to third-party certification schemes that are specifically suited to local markets and short supply-chains. In a PGS, the producers, consumers, and distributors can define and enforce their own certification, based on the standards that are most important to them. Since each PGS is created by farmers and the communities they serve, the model is adaptable to local cultural values and community needs. For example, some PGS go beyond conventional organic certification standards to include a greater focus on issues like soil health, biodiversity, food access, or working conditions.
The International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) maintains a directory of PGS initiatives worldwide and advocates for governments to recognize them. While many different forms are possible depending on the context, an initiative must contain the following elements to be recognized as a PGS: a shared vision, stakeholder (farmers and community members) participation, transparent standards and processes, mechanisms for building trust, non-hierarchical democratic structures, and an ongoing learning process. In 2020, the directory included 223 PGS initiatives in 76 countries serving more than 500,000 farmers.
Organic PGS initiatives are often linked to local market opportunities. In 2012, for example, a group of volunteers in Sri Lanka started a weekly market called Good Market, at which all farm products for sale had to be organically grown. One of the most common questions from early visitors to the market was: “How do I know this is organic?” Large organic exporters had third-party certificates for their tea, spices, coconuts, and tropical fruits, but small-scale farmers who grew organic rice, legumes, and vegetables couldn’t afford export-level certification. This imbalance worked against creating more sustainable, sovereign food systems.
In 2013, a local farm hosted a weekend retreat for producers and consumers who were interested in making organic certification more affordable and accessible. The group used the IFOAM Organic Norms and experiences of other PGS initiatives as a starting point, and then over time added additional standards and processes based on their requirements. For example, they decided that consumers should be able to participate in all farm visits, and they developed an assessment form with a “star system” so they could distinguish between farms that just barely met the organic standards and farms that were adopting regenerative practices to build soil and increase biodiversity. All materials were translated into Sri Lanka’s three local languages.
Farmers who are verified under the PGS are able to sell through marketplace events, local retail outlets, and organic delivery services. Local consumers tend to prefer PGS over third-party certification, not only because the products tend to be more affordable, but also because the process is transparent. They can find out what farm a product comes from and can partake in farm visits. Everyone involved feels a collective responsibility for maintaining this trust in, and the reputation of, the PGS. The consequences for non-compliance are clear. Farmers lose their organic-certification and are no longer able to supply through organic market channels.
While PGS initiatives are most common in local food systems, they can provide a low-cost, community-owned alternative to private third-party certifications in other sectors as well. PGS works in any context where community stakeholders agree on a core set of standards, a process for verifying those standards, and a transparent recordkeeping system.
