Engaging Civil Society to Create Sustainable Agricultural Systems: Environmentally-Friendly Coffee in El Salvador and Mexico

Farmers are interested in both markets and sustainability, so how can the two effectively link? While supply chains are indeed evolving to facilitate the necessary linkages, civil society organizations serve as a vital component not only to facilitate farmer adaptation in the field but also to help provide a measure of equity in the relationships between producers and various market actors such as traders, wholeslers, and processors. This paper illustrates some of the key experiences and lessons learned in two of the first project efforts designed to develop innovative market-oriented approaches toward environmental and social sustainability by developing and applying standards such as Organic and Rainforest Alliance.