Sustainability standards in global agrifood supply chains

Agrifood supply chains contribute to many environmental and social problems. Sustainability standards-rules that supply chain actors may follow to demonstrate their commitment to social equity and/or environmental protection-aim to mitigate such problems. We provide a narrative review of the effects of many distinct sustainability standards on different supply chain actors spanning multiple crops. Furthermore, we discuss five emerging questions-causality, exclusion, compliance and monitoring, excess supply and emerging country markets-and identify directions for future research. We find that, while sustainability standards can help improve the sustainability of production processes in certain situations, they are insufficient to ensure food system sustainability at scale, nor do they advance equity objectives in agrifood supply chains. The continued proliferation of certification schemes aimed at mitigating social and environmental problems in the food sector calls for constant stocktaking of their effects. This Review examines some of the most prominent sustainability standards to discuss the issues of causality, exclusion, compliance and monitoring, excess supply and emerging country markets-ultimately identifying directions for future research.

Automated summary

Sustainability standards have varying effects on different supply chain actors and crops, but are insufficient to ensure food system sustainability and equity objectives in agrifood supply chains. The ongoing proliferation of certification schemes in the food sector calls for continuous evaluation of their impacts.