In a forum last 6 August at the NTFP-EP Manila office, Mathew John of Keystone Foundation shared Keystone’s experiences on developing Participatory Guarantee Systems (PGS) in India to an audience of Philippine NGOs.

PGS is a way bringing in a large number of farmers and NTFP collectors into the organic fold who have not been able to access the third party systems of being certified organic. It is a response to the bureaucratic and expensive systems that exist. Today, thousands of farmers around the world have devised systems that are simple, transparent and adhere to the basic principles of organic agriculture

Mathew John has been working on the marketing of green products from rural and indigenous producers for over 15 years, and is part of the International Task Force of IFOAM on PGS.