ITC publications bring the business voice to sustainable trade, with a focus on developing countries. We offer guidance for trade policymakers, business support organizations and small firms. Our reports offer insights to make trade more inclusive, green, digital and competitive.
A comparison of sustainability schemes, as well as an overview of the trends in the markets for specialty and sustainable coffees. Coffee niche markets provide opportunities for producers in developing countries to increase their incomes. This paper, drawn from ITC’s new book on the coffee trade,...
This report on the ITC World Export Development Forum on Consumers, Ethics and Environment (October 2008), reflects on what ethical trade means, the growth in the global fair trade and ethical markets, how entrepreneurs in developing countries can break into these markets, and what trade support...
Coffee is the world's most important agricultural crop in terms of trade volumes; it is exported by 60 countries and is one of the few major commodities grown predominantly by smallholder farmers. This report: presents an overview of the market trends for coffee certified as ‘sustainable’ over...
Literature review of interdependencies between public and private standards. It focuses on how governments could engage with private standards to impact their legitimacy and significance in the market; provides examples of complementarities between public and private standards. Part three of a...
Private sustainability standards can be an effective tool to foster sustainable development. This paper outlines conditions for sustainability and potential obstacles. Private sustainability standards can bring benefits to producers and the supply chain. This literature review analyses why the...
Managing risk and building climate resilience among small firms requires a team effort. Climate change is hitting small and medium enterprises (SMEs) hard, and supply chain disruptions have a domino effect. This guide explains how development cooperation agencies, business support organizations,...
The global pandemic has hit small farmers with disruptions in health, food security, transport, finance and demand. It has also increased the cost of doing business. Smallholder farmers, already dealing with the effects of a climate and price crisis, are taking emergency measures for resilience. At...
Many climate-smart technologies exist in Pakistan to help farmers adapt to climate change. These include commercially available technologies and those developed locally. Various factors hinder their uptake, limiting climate resilience.
Understanding the global demand for environmental goods and services can unlock new export opportunities for developing country SMEs. This study provides a market overview of this complex sector, which reached an estimated US$ 866 billion in 2011, and is expected to rise to US$ 1.9 trillion by 2020...
This paper aims to guide exporters of agricultural products through the process of product carbon footprinting so as to make it easier for them to understand the processes involved, improve their environmental performance and ultimately to reduce the costs for their business. This paper presents a...
