We often talk about system-level change to address root causes of poverty and imbalance of risk. This requires us to unite in different and creative ways. The Living Income Community of Practice motivates actors across sectors to help close the income gap, so that smallholders can earn a decent standard of living as a basic human right.
The ISEAL-funded research project Integrating new data to improve risk assessments and detection of forced labour in agricultural supply chains (2017 – 18) is an attempt to build the evidence base around monitoring and remediating forced labour in agricultural supply chains.
This report looks at the issues facing small certified producers and their expectations and experiences of certification, and explores how standards can address producers’ needs and priorities.
A working paper for the project “New data to detect forced labour in agriculture”.
This report explores the relevance of current trends in technology to sustainability standards – from mobile data collection and the internet of things, to open data and blockchains – and proposes a roadmap for development.
In this report ISEAL offers insights from three baselines of evaluations that it commissioned in 2015 and were published in June 2016
A Report produced for the ISEAL Alliance Innovations Fund project “Integrating new data to improve risk
assessments and detection of forced labour vulnerability in agricultural supply chains”.
This round is now closed. In August 2025 The ISEAL Innovations Fund invited Expressions of Interest for projects that respond to the theme: Market mechanisms for transferring value to small-scale producers and SMEs.This Call for EOIs document contains all the information our members need to apply. Please note: EOIs must be submitted by an ISEAL Community Member, though non-member organisations can be named as project lead. Please also find links to download a brief Summary of this Call, as well as additional guidance documents for this funding round.
A document describing the key findings from Training Needs and Landscape Assessment of Shrimp Sector in East Java, Indonesia, as part of the Innovations Fund project Integration of Seafood Certification and Jurisdictional Assurance Models, supported by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO).
ISEAL works to improve the credibility and impacts of sustainability standards and understanding impacts is an important strategic goal. This paper is the first attempt to draw on internal performance monitoring data of schemes and external research to analyse the reach and characteristics of smallholder farmers within ISEAL member agriculture schemes. This is the third in a series of collective reporting briefing papers researched by ISEAL as part of the ‘Demonstrating and Improving Poverty Impacts’ (DIPI) project.
This case study highlights how credible voluntary sustainability standards (VSS) support palm oil companies with regulatory requirements such as the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR). Featuring the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), it explores how VSS enable traceability, ensure legal production, and promote smallholder inclusion - helping businesses build deforestation-and conversion-free (DCF) supply chains that go beyond compliance.
ISEAL and AidEnvironment’s new whitepaper builds understanding and support for equity and livelihoods in seafood and beyond. It recommends realigning focus from risk reduction to sustainable livelihood and fairness.
Ensuring resilient livelihoods and sustained employment for vulnerable communities was already a stretch pre-Covid-19. For those communities lacking a stable income, the impact has been inconceivable.
Improving the livelihoods and well-being of smallholders, small-scale producers and workers is a priority for many sustainability systems. This case study looks at some of the innovative ways sustainability systems and partners supported by the ISEAL Innovations Fund are enabling small-scale producers to benefit from accessing markets and participating in global value chains.