PARTICIPATORY GUARANTEE SYSTEM AS STRATEGY FOR SMALL FARMER’S AUTONOMY AND SUSTAINABILITY DURING PANDEMIC

Abstract

During the pandemic, there was an increase in demand for healthy food. Consumers assume food should not be contaminated by synthetic chemicals or excessive human interference; consequently, organic products' need increases and benefits the production's economic scale. On the other hand, it also increases the risk of dishonest traders exploiting the added value of organic products; thus, organic standards become a concern for consumers. Instead, thirdparty certification bodies have been widely criticized for being difficult to access by the small farmer and causing market monopolies. An alternative approach for them to get an organic label is through the Participatory Guarantee System (PGS), which is mainly intended for local markets, perceived to be democratic, independent, and based on all the small farmer and consumer participation to guarantee the organic products. This article's focus is to analyse PGS as an avenue for farmers to grab organic guarantees amid the pandemic that limits mobility and market access. We applied systematic literature studies supported by questioners and selected in-depth interviews with the small farmers who adopted PGS in East Java Province, Indonesia. We found that PGS able to support small farmer to gain broader exposure to organic guarantees and a considerable rise in product sales during a pandemic. The procedures adopted by the PGSs help building agroecology and strengthening farmers in the food system. Then contributes to increasing small farmer autonomy and sustainability in dealing with stressors during the pandemic.