The sustainability impact of voluntary sustainability standards in the food sector: Evidence from Peru

Voluntary Sustainability Standards (VSS) are increasingly used as a market-based mechanism to improve and guarantee sustainability in global food trade. Despite a wide spread of VSS, especially for tropical produce, their actual sustainably impact is an unresolved issue. Previous studies on this topic are case- and discipline-specific, ignoring the variability in VSS and the various sustainability dimensions. In my PhD I provide insights on the socioeconomic and ecological impact of VSS, and on synergies and trade-offs between these impacts. I focus on Peru, an important trade partner for Belgium, and the global scale, on a variety of tropical products that are important for Belgian food imports, and on a large set of VSS. I use survey and GIS data, and advanced state-of-the-art econometric panel data methods. My research results in insights on the effectiveness of VSS, and allows to identify improvements and best practices that will be communicated to consumers, food companies, donors and civil society organizations. With my PhD, I ultimately aim at contributing to more sustainable food imports in Belgium and a more sustainable global food system.