Participatory Guarantee Systems as institutional innovations: are these effective governance arrangements?
Résumé
This article addresses the question of the behavioral effectiveness of standards by looking at how
Voluntary Sustainability Standards work as incentives in the adoption of sustainable agriculture
practices. We argue that they are effective because the institutions that are mobilized through a
governance arrangement enable producers to be linked with multiple stakeholders who provide support
for the adoption of sustainable practices. We illustrate how these governance arrangements are set up
through a cross-examination of case studies on PGS that have been developed in six countries around
the world (Bolivia, Colombia, India, Namibia, Philippines and Uganda). We explore which actors are
involved in each case, how the problem of ‘unsustainability’ is framed in order to mobilize collective
action, and the effectiveness of these approaches in terms of institutionalizing organic agriculture
practices within the communities.