The considerable diversity of priorities associated with the uptake of Voluntary Sustainability Standards (VSS) have captured significant interests for researchers to analyze the drivers that stimulated stakeholders to be certified (or not). Given the unclear distribution of benefits resulting from these sustainability certifications, smallholder farmers are striking economic actors in the value chains that have expressed unprecedented concerns. This is not to say that they do not see the value of adapting sustainability measures into their operations, but rather concerns
UNCTAD is implementing a project “Fostering Green Exports through Voluntary Sustainability Standards in Developing Countries” that aims to strengthen capacities of developing countries to make the best use out of voluntary sustainability standards (VSS) as a tool to foster green exports which can also contribute to the SDGs.