Local alternatives to private agricultural certification in Ecuador: Broadening access to 'new markets'?

One option for sustaining smallholder peasant (campesino in Spanish) agriculture and diversified agricultural production systems in is improved access to niche markets or 'new markets' (Hebinck et al., 2015). However a common pre-requisite to enter these markets is private third party agricultural certification. Most agricultural certification initiatives, such as organic and Fairtrade, are private initiatives that are costly for small-producers with limited access to capital. This study analyzes the role local governments can play in through public certification, analyzing three certification initiatives created by provincial governments in Ecuador. These cases convert certification into a public rather than a private good and potentially broaden access to certification by marginalized producers. However our research concluded that access to certification may not be effective if it is not accompanied by other measures and policies favorable to small-scale producers.