Sustainability requirements in global markets are growing at an ever-increasing pace. Practices that would once have provided African producers with a competitive advantage are now becoming a prerequisite for market access. African sustainability standards are well placed to help local producers navigate the changing landscape, provided they keep pace with global expectations and don’t leave anyone behind.
In response, the African Organisation for Standardisation (ARSO) and the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) have partnered since 2024 to strengthen African sustainability standards and support their alignment with international standards and evolving sustainability requirements in global markets.
Mapping African Standards to International Best Practices
The first step toward meeting this shared objective was to conduct a comprehensive benchmarking exercise, assessing the design of selected ARSO standards in agriculture, forestry, and aquaculture against eight leading international sustainability standards and due diligence frameworks. The analysis drew on an analytical framework composed of seven key themes: climate action, biodiversity and natural resource management, pollution prevention, social inclusion, working conditions, business, and due diligence. These themes were further broken down into 28 subthemes and 158 indicators covering environmental, social, and economic dimensions.
The benchmarking also assessed governance, assurance systems, transparency and traceability, and labelling all of which are essential elements in determining the robustness and reliability of sustainability standards. These aspects are increasingly important in light of the growing number of due diligence, anti-greenwashing, and reporting obligations being established by governments around the world. The benchmarking further included an assessment of alignment with the OECD due diligence framework and the European Union Deforestation-Free Regulation (EUDR).
The overall findings highlight that the ARSO standards assessed provide a strong foundation rooted in African production realities, while showing a strong coverage and level of ambition across multiple criteria for environmental, social, and economic dimensions. In particular, the standards perform strongly in areas such as workplace safety, labour rights, and alignment with international conventions.
The analysis also identified valuable opportunities to further strengthen ARSO standards and support their international recognition and effectiveness. This included the introduction of specific and measurable parameters in areas such as greenhouse gas emissions monitoring and energy reduction, stronger requirements for risk analysis and accountability mechanisms within defined timelines, and continued efforts to reinforce community engagement, community protection, and business diversification.
Aligning African Standards with the EUDR
The EUDR is reshaping how global agricultural and forest commodities are traded. The regulation requires companies placing products on the EU market to demonstrate that they are deforestation-free (with a cut-off date of 31 December 2020), legally produced in accordance with national laws, traceable to the plot of land of origin through geolocation data, and supported by robust due diligence systems, including risk assessment and mitigation.
Like producers across the globe, for African producers of cocoa, coffee, rubber, timber, and other EUDR-relevant commodities, these requirements introduce new layers of complexity, particularly for smallholder farmers and enterprises that may lack the technical and financial capacity to comply independently. At the same time, these requirements also present an opportunity for African producers to strengthen their sustainability credentials and improve their positioning in international markets.
Now that the EUDR is no longer a distant policy but a mandatory framework requiring operators to prove deforestation-free commodity production, understanding the role of regional and context-specific standards, such as those developed by ARSO, is increasingly critical.
As part of its broader benchmarking work, IISD examined the alignment of ARSO’s agricultural (ARS AES 1–2014) and forestry (ARS AES 3–2014) standards against 47 EUDR-specific indicators across six thematic areas: risk management, legality, deforestation-free requirements, traceability, transparency, and governance. For each indicator, the analysis assessed not only whether a requirement was present, but how completely it was addressed and how closely it matched the ambition and rigour of the EUDR.
The findings reveal a mixed picture. ARSO’s governance framework emerged as a clear strength, with both standards featuring multi-stakeholder structures, independent conformity assessment aligned with ISO/IEC norms, and continuous improvement mechanisms. Both standards also provide a legal compliance baseline, particularly on land rights, and include chain-of-custody provisions that support downstream traceability. However, significant gaps remain in areas central to EUDR compliance: neither standard currently includes the mandatory December 31, 2020 deforestation cut-off date; plot-level geolocation and polygon mapping requirements are absent; structured upfront risk assessment frameworks are missing; and public transparency around audit outcomes and certification information is limited.
The detailed findings, indicator-level analysis, and recommendations for both standards are available in the full report, Supporting EUDR Compliance Through Regional Sustainability Standards: Insights from ARSO Agriculture and Forestry Standards. We invite policymakers, standards bodies, and trade operators to dive into the detailed findings and recommendations.
Looking Ahead: From Compliance to Competitiveness
The IISD–ARSO collaboration reflects a joint objective that extends beyond responding to a single regulation. Sustainability requirements in global markets are multiplying and deepening, covering not just deforestation, but labour rights, due diligence, climate resilience, and supply chain transparency. For African producers, the ability to demonstrate credible, verifiable sustainability practices is becoming a condition of market access, not simply a competitive advantage.
By benchmarking ARSO standards against international voluntary sustainability standards, due diligence frameworks, and governance best practices, this work aims to contribute to strengthening ARSO standards. It examines how standards address environmental, social, and economic outcomes, embed risk-based due diligence, and ensure transparency, accountability, and effective assurance. Strengthening these dimensions could support ARSO standards in becoming more useful and recognizable tools for producers navigating complex international sustainability market requirements.
This is ongoing work. The benchmarking findings provide a foundation for targeted standard revisions, national capacity-building, and deeper engagement with producers, buyers, and regulators. The goal is not only to help African standards keep pace with global expectations, but rather to ensure that the process of meeting those expectations strengthens—rather than burdens—African producers and the communities that depend on them.