Certifying Sustainable Agriculture: Certification Success, Social Impacts, and Rule-Making in Mexican Organic Coffee Producer Groups and E.U./U.S. Certified Markets

近几十年来，农产品生产、收获、运输、加工、分销和消费方式的全球变化极大地改变了农业业务。消费者对有机生产商品的需求不断增长，这一系列变化已经改变了生产和分销链的许多方面。这一研究项目将审查为国际市场认证农产品所需的认证实践。一个有机认证咖啡商品链的案例研究将检查来自墨西哥瓦哈卡州农场的咖啡，并通过认证途径运输到欧洲和美国市场。农产品认证提供了一种环境保护模式，特别适用于空间分散的生产者，如咖啡小农，他们拥有位于高保护价值地区的农业地块。本案例研究将侧重于认证实践，用于验证咖啡源自认证地块，符合认证产品规范，并且随后不会与未经认证的商品混合。初步研究发现，一些农民组织在认证他们的产品方面比其他组织更成功。研究者将比较认证成功的数据，这些数据在空间上与村庄人口普查数据配对，并选择8个村庄进行详细的家庭人口调查。为了确定与认证相关的行政劳动负担增加的数量和特征，并确定这种增加的劳动对村庄经济管理和人力资本使用的影响，研究者将进行工作调查，重点关注认证活动的时间安排和空间影响，并确定这些影响如何影响村庄经济管理和人力资本形成。调查员还将审查在村庄内进行的核证工作的细节，以便确定哪些要求反映了国际政策论坛，如国际标准化组织和联合国所规定的要求，他还将比较欧洲联盟和美国的核证途径，以查明核证规则和条例的差异。该项目将为日益复杂的认证规则和法规对墨西哥和其他地区小农的农业实践和福祉的影响提供新的见解。通过探索国际组织和外国制定和实施的政策和标准对农场和村庄经济管理实践的影响，以及生产者、中间商和消费者之间的联系，该项目既可以增进基本知识，也可以帮助寻找具有成本效益的农业认证机制，这种机制可以推广到发展中国家较贫穷的农民和具有环境重要性的地区。

Global changes in the ways that agricultural products are produced, harvested, transported, processed, distributed, and consumed have dramatically altered agricultural business in recent decades. One set of changes that has altered many aspects of the production and distribution chain have been growing demands by consumers for organically produced commodities. This research project will examine the certification practices required to certify agricultural products for international markets. A case study of a certified organic coffee commodity chain will examine coffee that originates on farms in Oaxaca, Mexico, and is transported along certifier pathways to European and U.S. markets. Agricultural product certification provides an environmental conservation model that is of particular relevance to spatially dispersed producers, such as smallholder coffee farmers, who possess agricultural plots located in areas of high conservation value. This case study will focus on certification practices used to verify that coffee originates in certified plots, conforms to certified product norms, and is not subsequently blended with non-certified goods. Preliminary studies have found that some farmer organizations are more successful in certifying their products than others. The investigator will compare data on certification success that is spatially paired with village census data and select eight villages for detailed household demographic surveys. To determine the quantity and character of increased administrative labor burdens associated with certification and to ascertain the effect of this added labor on village economic management and human capital use, the investigator will conduct work surveys that focus on scheduling and spatial impacts of certification activities and determine how these affect village economic management and human capital formation. The investigator also will examine the particulars of certification work undertaken within villages in order to ascertain which demands reflect set within international policy forums, such as the International Organization for Standardization and the United Nations, and he will compare European Union and U.S. certification pathways to identify differences in certification rules and regulations.This project will provide new insights into the impact of increasingly complex certification rules and regulations on the agricultural practices and well-being of small farmers in Mexico and elsewhere. By exploring the ways that the policies and standards established and implemented by international organizations and foreign nations impacts on farm and village economic management practices as well as links between producers, intermediaries, and consumers, this project will both advance basic knowledge and also aid in the search for cost-effective agricultural certification mechanisms that may be extended to poorer farmers and areas of environmental importance located in developing nations.