| Organic marketing offers an important income source for many Mexican farmers. However, common certification by external agencies results in high costs and bureaucracy, thus limiting farmers’ access to markets. Participatory Guarantee Systems (PGSs) offer alternatives for farmer associations, organising certification as a process of social learning with broad stakeholder integration. The aim of my thesis is to give a socioeconomic profile of the farmers in PGSs and reveal their motives, agro-ecological attitudes, benefits from and challenges of collective organic certification with a particular emphasis on social aspects. For a comparison of a) participatory and b) externally certified farmers I realised interviews and focus group discussions in two groups... |
