Sustainable Consumption and Production in International Development Cooperation : A case study of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida)

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Sustainable Consumption and

Production in International

Development Cooperation

A case study of the Swedish International Development

Cooperation Agency (Sida)

Jennie Broman

22 Jan 2021

Communication for Development One-year master

15 Credits HT2020

Supervisor: Vittorio Felci Word count: 13.027

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Abstract

Sustainable consumption and production (SCP) is integral within the international sustainable development agenda both as goal and objective. As well as linking people and society to the broader picture of development, sustainable consumption helps the global sustainability agenda to connect with individuals because it affects everyday practices at home and in society. Sustainable production is strongly linked to consumption as it touches on the practices of producing consumer goods and services. International development cooperation agencies are important actors in the SCP agenda, as they oversee international aid and funding for programmes meant to implement international sustainable development policies. SCP has strong links to global north narratives, and participatory approaches have become mandatory for recipient countries to obtain donor funding. It is therefore important to understand how these agencies conceptualise these practices in a global south context. Drawing from the ideas of empowerment through participation, this degree project analyses two project reports funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), an important actor within international development cooperation activities, and investigates how SCP is communicated in a global south context. It finds that: the initiatives experience limitations by donor dependency, constraining local community practices to sustain; lacking measuring tools and strategies limit the information to clearly say these initiatives reach the intended target groups; and that there is strong reason to question whether these initiatives, largely built upon global north narratives, are suitable for the context and subjects of intervention.

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Abbreviations

10YFP 10 Year Framework of Programmes for Sustainable Consumption and Production

AfrOnet African Organic Trade

CA Consumer Authorities

CPA Consumer Protection Agencies

DAC Development Assistance Committee

Danida Danish International Development Agency

EU European Union

GIZ German International Development Agency

IFOAM International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements, also “Organic International”

JAICA Japan International Cooperation Agency

MDG Millennium Development Goal

MENA Middle East and North Africa

NOAM National Organic Movement

OECD Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development

OGS Organic Guarantee System

OTEA Organic Trade and Value Chain Development in East Africa

REI Regional Economic Integration

SCP Sustainable Consumption and Production

SDG Sustainable Development Goal

Sida Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency

UN United Nations

UNCTAD United Nations Conference on Trade and Development

UNEP United Nations Environment Programme

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1 Introduction

1.1 Sustainable consumption and production and global policy discourse

The way we live today is unsustainable because far too many resources are consumed than what the earth can regenerate. However, it is important to acknowledge the large gaps in consumption between rich and poor. Around 10% of the richer populations of the world account for nearly half of global greenhouse gas emissions responsible for climate change (UNEP, 2020). These unsustainable practices have contributed to current major environmental crises: climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution (UN, 2020). This has two implications: one being the urgent need for both social and ecological transformation; and two, the need to address high levels of inequality.

Sustainable consumption and production (SCP) aims at decoupling economic growth from its potentially negative effects on the environment and society (Merle, 2017). It has become an integral part of the global sustainability agenda both as an objective and as a goal in itself and is therefore important both on its own, and through connecting other targets and goals in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This agenda determines governmental policy-processes, internationally, regionally, and nationally. Understanding how consumption and development is linked is important because it connects with environmental and social issues (Hobson, 2013).

While many people live beyond the earth’s ecological means, large populations still live without access or possibility to consume the bare minimum. People’s consumption needs are highly influenced by social and cultural systems, which is why social change is important. There are initiatives within the sustainable development domain that strive to promote values that encourage responsible consumption, kept within environmental capacities. However, the task of defining basic human needs in terms of quantities of goods and services has proven to be contentious at all governmental levels (Hobson, 2013, p. 1084).

There are several examples of large international agencies, networks and organizations working with SCP. The United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) activities are largely linked to topics on SCP. It also serves as Secretariat of the United Nations 10-Year Framework of Programmes for Sustainable Consumption and Production (10YFP) which is

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primarily focused on, and heavily addresses, the issues of on sustainable consumption. The European Union (EU) funds large programmes on SCP globally, in Africa, Asia-Pacific and the Mediterranean called SWITCH-to-Green, SWITCH Africa Green, SWITCH-Asia, and SWITCH-Med. The Sustainable Consumption Research and Action Initiative (SCORAI) is a network of experts focused on SCP with the intention to bridge the gap between research, policy, and civil society. Perhaps most prominent on the global agenda for SCP now is Goal 12 (Sustainable Consumption and Production) of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – as well as focused on SCP, it also connects with the other goals of the agenda, for example: poverty eradication (Goal 1), zero hunger (Goal 2), sustainable cities (Goal 11), industry (Goal 9), and climate change (Goal 13). These international frameworks are very important to development because they reflect outcomes of global governmental policy processes which all member states have committed to, and thus determine national government policies and programmes.

Within the academic community, concepts of SCP have been explored widely linking it to topics such as: climate change, resource and energy use, circular economy, and lifestyles. Addressing consumption and production have proven to be significant when approaching both environmental and social development. In its attempts to connect academic communities with, policy actors, entrepreneurs, and activists, SCORAI aspires to reconnect consumption and production as complementary to each other. The network calls for transformation of unsustainable modes of production as essential to sustainable consumption (Genus, 2016). Three main domains of consumption and lifestyles have been identified as being responsible for the highest greenhouse gas emission levels, including: mobility, housing and food (IGES et al., 2019). Most of these impacts are relate to historical and current consumption patterns of the global North. As such, mainly developed from a global north context, recommendations for achieving SCP include a wide range of options for more sustainable ways of living, such as changing to a vegetarian diet, more energy efficient electricity at home or means of transportation (IGES et al., 2019).

Even though many of the above-mentioned options suggest improved and more efficient technical solutions, this transformation will also require social and political change. Frequently the technical rationale exceeds personal and organizational politics, and decisions within

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development projects are bound by an institutional rationality which is anchored in scientific and bureaucratic justifications (Waisbord, 2008, p. 516).

There are attempts to move away from dominant discourses of SCP that are linked to economic growth, and to link people and society to a broader picture of development which reflects human wellbeing, social justice and equity. Such a shift would help to link the more technocratic processes and sometimes abstract goals and targets to everyday people and society, and their everyday practices.

1.2 Sida, international development cooperation, and global sustainable development policy

Most developed countries have international development agencies that facilitate development programmes across developing countries. Led by their respective governments, these agencies realise and finance development programmes in developing countries, guided by for example international development frameworks such as the SDGs or the 10YFP.

These international frameworks have helped transform the international development cooperation sector, not only moving away from merely addressing poverty, but emerging economies and previously developing countries can now also be seen as donors in the field as well as ‘south-south’ cooperation (Esteves & Zoccal, 2020).

The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) is a leading international development programme operating to support implementation of the global SDGs. Similar to the example of Sida in Sweden, Denmark has the Danish International Development Agency (Danida); in Japan there is the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JAICA); Germany has their German International Development Agency (GIZ); and in the United States, United States Agency for International Development (USAID). As examples of their work, GIZ works in, for example, Western Africa, on a project which aims to improve the situation for sustainable production of cacao by bringing together, politicians, the private sector and civil society (GIZ, 2018). Projects led by the USAID under the framework of the SDGs are working with community-based efforts to restore forests in Indonesia (Andina, n.d.). JAICA runs 137 projects and programs in 39 countries, mostly in Africa, Asia and South America, that are related to climate change, such as disaster risk reduction in for example Laos and El Salvador

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(JAICA, 2018). Similarly, Danida emphasises the SDGs in their strategy for development cooperation (Danida, 2017).

Sida works on all goals of the SDGs (also known as Agenda 2030), through different methods and in different countries. Swedish policy for global development takes into consideration the perspective of people living in poverty, human rights, and planetary boundaries (Sida, n.d.). There are five priorities defined by the Swedish government that must be included in all Swedish development cooperation: i) the perspective of poverty which aims at putting people who live in poverty at the centre; ii) the human rights perspective, that people living in poverty should be provided with knowledge of their rights, and the power and tools that can defend them; iii) the conflict perspective is seen as a precondition for sustainable development and to alleviate poverty; iv) 88 per cent of Sida’s total support have gender equality as the main goal, and the gender equality perspective is in the line of conflict a necessity for poverty reduction; v) finally, in order to achieve sustainable societies, it is necessary to use resources in a sustainable manner, which is why the environment and climate perspective should also shape Swedish development cooperation (Sida, n.d.).

Because the global south often relies on the financial resources and technical support from agencies such as Sida from the global north, it is critical to understand how the concept of SCP, which is of global importance, is interpreted by the agencies that apply these concepts in their work. There is reason to be critical when it comes to both the communication and practice of sustainable consumption as far as developing countries are concerned because:

a) A lot of the defining literature on SCP is from developed country institutions and perspectives

b) A majority of the global development agenda negotiations and processes are led by global north countries and agencies, and therefore are deeply influence by their views, and

c) Most of the financing in the global south for the implementation of development projects comes from the global north, implying unidirectional flows and reflecting global north’s consideration of what is important.

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Not only are developing countries depending on funding from the global north, but development agencies also have the mandate to assess what is appropriate in a developing country context:

‘Unlike previous strategies, the current strategy gives space for Sida to assess

when country-specific initiatives are appropriate. However, like the previous strategy, the current strategy underlines the importance of seeking synergies with the European Union (EU) development assistance and the United Nations (UN)’(Pedersen et al., 2018,

p. 20)

Given the above context, this paper analyses how SCP is defined, communicated, and practiced by developed country agencies operating in developing countries. In doing so, this degree project analyses two recent reports related to SCP of projects funded by Sida. These texts are project evaluations - one mid-term evaluation and one evaluation done at the end of a project. The mid-term evaluation assesses a project which aims to achieve regional economic integration through competition and consumer protection policies in the Middle East and North Africa. The second evaluation is addressing a project that aims for community empowerment through organic agriculture and trade in East Africa.

In this research Sida is merely seen as the institutions that fund a variety of projects which are all governed by policies informed by the national government. Sida is a lot not always involved in the implementation process of a projects, which means that the opinions and information within the two reports of analysis does not necessarily reflect the opinions by Sida. However, they are valid as texts for study because they follow the guidelines provided by the institution and are dependent on receiving funds.

1.3 Key research question(s)

Overarching question:

How is sustainable consumption and production communicated through practice by developed country agencies in developing countries?

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- How is SCP conceptualised in a development cooperation context, including the contradicting needs to reduce overconsumption in developed country contexts and increase consumption from underconsuming societies in developing countries?

- What are priorities under SCP as presented by the two studied project reports, and how well do they reflect the needs and priorities from the perspective of recipient (developing) countries?

2 Literature review

This chapter presents some of the key literature on SCP which will help define concepts and ideas, as well as introduce some major international projects on the topic. The literature review is divided into three sections: i) a section which describes definitions of SCP followed by; ii) international initiatives, which includes programmes such as the 10YFP; and, finally, iii) competing narratives where academic research in the field is presented. This will help the analysis of the conceptualisation of SCP by considering which priorities are prevailing in the discourses of the field.

For additional clarification, the concept of global south/global north as well as developing/developed are used interlinked throughout this degree project. The global north is in this context are countries and societies that are consuming more than there are planetary resources and cause high greenhouse gas emissions. The global south encompasses countries that struggle with high levels of poverty and communities that do not have access to consumption or experience underconsumption. In some cases, the terms “developed countries” and “developing countries” are being used similarly in the context of this thesis even though in other contexts the concepts are treated differently.

2.1 Definitions of SCP

Sustainable development consist of two core elements: meeting human needs and respecting the limits imposed by the environment (Spangenberg, 2014). SCP is highly relevant to this definition as it touches on human needs in terms of what we consume, and how that consumption effects the earth’s natural resources.

One of the earlier definitions of sustainable consumption is ‘the use of services and related products which respond to basic needs and bring a better quality of life while minimising the

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use of natural resources and toxic materials as well as the emissions of waste and pollutants over the life-cycle so as not to jeopardise the needs of future generations’(Norwegian Ministry of Environment, 1994).

There is tendency, in pursuing SCP, to focus on improving consumption and production efficiency through, for example, technological improvements and innovation. Some analysts argue that this technological focus gives a limited picture because it overlooks the social challenges of sustainability such as inequality (Lorek & Fuchs, 2013). On the production side of the spectrum, even though resource efficient solutions have proven successful in some aspects, it has led to what is called the ‘rebound effect’, which essentially means a higher demand of a specific service or product leading to increase of the overall consumption and environmental impacts (Hobson, 2013, p. 1086).

The gap between the rich and the poor, when it comes to consumption and production, continues to expand. Producing countries, which often are developing countries where cheap operating factories are based, often suffer consequences of natural resource depletion, pollution, and other negative impacts of production. The problem here, some researchers note, is that most of the consumption of these products happens outside the borders of these developing countries, and there are few attempts by rich and high consuming countries to account for these transboundary trade impacts (Amos & Lydgate, 2020).

The SDGs describe SCP: ‘a holistic approach to minimizing negative environmental impacts from production and consumption in society and it can be considered as a practical implementation strategy to achieve sustainable development and the main objective is to promote social and economic development within the carrying capacity of ecosystems and to de-couple economic growth from environmental degradation’ (UN, n.d.). In an SDG Report from 2018 (UN, 2018), the gap between the global south and global north are highlighted - countries in the global north have at least double the per capita footprint compared with countries from the global south. Material footprint for fossil fuel is more than four times higher as well. Four major problems are emphasised: i) raw material extraction and domestic material; ii) policies which decouples economic growth from environmental degradation, increase resource efficiency and promote more sustainable lifestyles; iii) small enterprise reporting on the environmental, social and economic impacts; iv) and finally population growth (UN, 2018).

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SCP has a cultural aspect to it; people consume in particular ways because that is what the context around them is defined. A world where economic growth is seen as the most unquestioned ‘raison d'être’ of the nation-state shows the relative cultural construction of needs and the prescribed standards of living (Hobson, 2013). Sustainable standards of living can be described as the need to reduce material consumption and emissions to stay within ecological boundaries, while at the same time securing wellbeing for all (Akenji et al., 2016). Sustainable standard of living may also be described as ensuring people’s capability to provide food and shelter, as well as effective participation in society (Druckman & Jackson, 2010).

In sum, resource-constrained consumption should not be the only explanation of SCP, it should also include human wellbeing and the possibility to live a dignified life. Despite the shrinking availability of resources, everyone should be able to maintain and enhance quality of life (Spangenberg, 2014). Wellbeing has been conceptualised by researchers through ‘needs-based approaches’ which focus on the capabilities required for people to flourish through: ‘physical health and safety; clean air and water and adequate nutrition; social and political participation; autonomy’ (Millward-Hopkins et al., 2020, p. 2).

In order to achieve the goals of SCP, radical changes both at individual level and at systems level are needed, which requires the involvement of actors reaching from individuals, policy makers, businesses, NGOs, civil society. It also engages with both environment and socio-economic issues of societies across the globe.

2.2 International initiatives and conceptualisations

Practices for in particular sustainable consumption has often been directed towards the individual consumer and the need for the individual to change their consumption patterns (Genus, 2016). However, focusing only on the consumer have proven to ignore the structural factors that enable unsustainable behaviours within SCP (Akenji et al., 2016).

There is growing acknowledgment that multi-level change is needed both in terms of consumption patterns and production behaviours. Striving for a decrease of the overall negative impact of economic growth, SCP accounts for mitigating potential rebound effects by looking at the optimisation of footprints of the entire product life cycle (Merle, 2017). Entrenched in the global sustainable development agenda, concerns with the systemic challenges of global sustainable development are prevailing (Lorek & Fuchs, 2013).

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The 10YFP was adopted by the Heads of State at the Rio+20 Conference on Sustainable Development in 2012. It is implemented by The One Planet network and consists of six programmes that should guide policy processes at national levels. It seeks to influence several stakeholders – national and local governments, civil society, businesses, scientific and technical organizations and international organizations – to take action for sustainable consumption and production by providing tools, knowledge and solutions that should deliver Goal 12 of the SDGs (UN, 2020). The 10YFP includes six so called ‘accelerator programmes’ which are: Sustainable Public Procurement; Sustainable Buildings and Construction; Sustainable Tourism; Sustainable Food Systems; Consumer Information; and, Sustainable Lifestyles and Education (UN, 2020). Its multi-stakeholder approach aims at showcasing good examples that inspire for change. Only in 2019, 945 activities across this network was reported (UN, 2020).

Infographic of the 6 key elements of SCP (UNEP, 2010).

In the latest report from the 10YFP by the UN examples of success in a global south context is referencing to waste management, change in production and eco-tourism. Waste management seems to be increasingly relevant to sustainable consumption and production and limited data makes it difficult to identify successful practices (UN, 2020). Only under the sixth accelerator

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program, focusing on sustainable lifestyles and education, is poverty eradication mentioned (UN, 2020).

On the socio-economic side, human wellbeing, lifestyles, and economic growth are found. There is a need to assess the range of ecological and socio-economic threats afflicting the planet and the causal chain that eventually leads back to many forms of ‘underlying configurations of unsustainable production and consumption practices, policies and systems’(Barber, 2015). A recent study by Oxfam shows that the problems of equity does not only exist between rich and poor countries. Extreme gaps between rich and poor and their effect on the environment exists within developed countries as well (Oxfam, 2020). With a growing urban population, cities are responsible for between 60-80 per cent of all greenhouse gas emissions, and whilst the worlds’ riches 10 per cent contribute to half of the global carbon emissions, the growing number of the urban poor only account for 10 per cent of carbon emissions (Akenji & Chen, 2015). At the same time, research show that low to middle- income households are better at reducing their greenhouse gas emissions, while the richer households who stand for about half of the worlds emissions remain at the same high level (Oxfam, 2020; UNEP, 2020).

Another large international program with strong connection to SCP is the SWITCH-Asia programme, funded by the European Commission. Having an SCP focus, its mission is to change the unsustainable patterns of resource use in Asia and Central Asia, and put emphasis on the performance of products and better their life cycles, influence a higher demand for more sustainable production and support consumers to make well-informed consumption choices (European Union, n.d.).

One major concern according to SCORAI network of experts on SCP is whether non-material growth is possible. In attempts to move away from the dominant domain of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) alternative ways of measuring wellbeing are presented. However, research shows it is easier to work with the ideas of ‘more from less’ than the ideas of degrowth and ‘less is more’ (Genus, 2016), mainly due to political challenges of acceptability for concepts such as “degrowth”.

Finally, many programmes related to sustainable consumption and production focus on eco-labels and recycling. Both of which can cause confusion and increases in consumption (Hobson, 2013). When searching for information in several development cooperation agencies resource

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platforms related to sustainable consumption and production a vast majority of projects are related to production rather than consumption. A strong pattern has been detected that programs supported by international organisations which are implemented in a global south context often focus on i.e., ecological farming, technological innovations, eco-labels, or waste management. From a sustainable lifestyles perspective, social norms need to change and the design of the systems in which people live (Akenji & Chen, 2015; Druckman & Jackson, 2010), it is however not enough to simply focus on social change within civil society.

SCP initiatives aim to achieve reduced emissions and resource use in order to combat climate change, but there are also aims to achieve human wellbeing and to reduce the large gaps between the rich and poor. While unsustainable in a global north context often is associated to

overconsumption, another form of unsustainable consumption is underconsumption

(Spangenberg, 2014). Equity is therefore an important topic to address, the discourses of SCP often seem to target people in the middle, and not as much the group with higher income and higher emissions, nor the people who are living unsustainably by experiencing

underconsumption. It has been suggested by researchers that change in global civilization can

only be achieved through radical transformation of the institutional arrangements and socio-technical systems that facilitate the pursuit of wellbeing (Akenji et al., 2016).

2.3 Competing narratives

As mentioned above, SCP touches upon many different layers in society and therefore have an inbuild ambivalence addressing consumption at individual aspirations as well as being a part of the dominant cultures of many countries (Paz et al., 2018).

Originally, consumption coupled with production stems from the economic field, but has moved into different fields that focus on the frames, narratives and instruments of communicating SCP and exploring the engagement, empowerment and action for more sustainable systems of consumption and production (Paz et al., 2018). Other researchers also discuss the nature of consumerism, and how consumption is part of affluent societies giving it a sense of belonging, pride and meaning (Genus, 2016). Just as other things that are an integral part of people’s cultural heritage, a slow change in consumption patterns can be expected (Spangenberg, 2014).

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There are cultures with a philosophy of life that speaks to living in balance with nature, self-reliance, perseverance, and wise living. A key principle in line with Buddhist philosophy is to strive for moderation and living within one’s means – neither lacking nor excess (Merle, 2017). In many cases the dominant discourses of SCP seem to feed the appetite of consumerism rather than transforming these unsustainable behaviours. It also misses to reach the most marginalised communities, and at the same time, being constrained by powerful institutions or structures. Even though it is important to target middle-income populations, Wang et al. (2019) pose an important question, which is to see if lessons can be drawn from the countries, organisations and institutions who are leading the SCP actions and practices can fit the contexts of the global south or cultures other than the developed country cultures.

Financial growth has long been a major argument for lifting people out of poverty. However, it has proven to not be a guarantee neither for increased income, nor increase in welfare or quality of life (Spangenberg, 2014). Instead, research on degrowth argues for radical and institutional change that promotes wellbeing and address the moral behind the unequal divide of affluent and non-affluent groups. This shift from ‘growth’ to ‘degrowth’ would require institutional, political and ontological changes across various sectors and levels of society (Hobson, 2013).

Many SCP related programmes end up targeting the more affluent communities despite the intent of poverty alleviation and rural community empowerment. An example of this is sustainable tourism. Despite the assumptions that increased tourism in rural communities, while at the same time considering protecting the environment, it does seem more as attempts to commodify foreign tourists and feed the appetite of the affluent (Merle, 2017). Similarly, the sustainable agricultural and food production, it does seem to benefit the high-income communities and foreign markets. Demonstrating clear signs on inequality.

Another example is the possibility for developed countries to outsource environmentally harmful practices to developing countries. Indonesia is currently the fifth largest global emitter of greenhouse gases because of the draining of peat bogs and making way for palm oil (Amos & Lydgate, 2020). According to the authors, even though the end product is consumed in the EU this is not systematically accounted for. Instead, Indonesia is undermined because of its inability meet SDG 13 calling for climate action, as well as SDG 15, life on land and biodiversity loss.

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Radical social and institutional change is necessary to change behaviours and the conditions of wellbeing and the current consumption patterns, and challenging existing systems is not a new phenomenon (Hobson, 2013). Degrowth is to some extent seen as a precondition for sustainable development. For degrowth to work, social acceptance is crucial. Coupled with research of sustainable consumption, degrowth could be supported in the discussions of its current challenges, such as necessary changes, political stumbling blocks and potential strategies (Lorek & Fuchs, 2013).

Spangenberg (2014) refer to overconsumption to be environmentally unsustainable, and underconsumption as socially unsustainable, and argues there is a strong need for sustainable consumption communication which promotes wellbeing. For the overconsuming populations this means through living better but with less and increasing quality of life through changing our behaviour and ideas of meaning-making. While for the underconsuming population, the core concern is not to consume less but to have more accessible consumption opportunities resulting in the matter of having ‘enough’ (Spangenberg, 2014).

This links to the ideas of consumption as part of culture. Wellbeing or living well refers to the ideas of radically reduce the consumption patterns in a global north context, while reaching an acceptable standard that regards both survival needs as well as the need to participate in society (Druckman & Jackson, 2010). Living well without overconsumption would potentially not only lead to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and better the conditions for the planet but could potentially help bridge the unequal gaps between overconsuming and underconsuming societies.

Inequality is rising in many parts of the world, and there is a lacking engagement in questions of equity and fairness within behavioural economics and social marketing (Hobson, 2013). A similar attempt to narrow the gap between rich and poor is sufficiency economy. Sufficiency is defined as ‘meeting the needs of wellbeing, ranging within the scope defined by a maximum level and capacity of the planet, and a minimum of consuming enough to live well (Merle, 2017).

Absolute reductions is argued to generate new knowledge leading to societal transformation that ‘aims for a global society that operated and thrives within its ecological limits’ (Akenji et al., 2016, p. 2). This approach shows the limitations of the dominant discourse of SCP, often related to green consumerism or efficiency improvements that rather target market economy,

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and failing to address the effects of the ecological collapse will have on vulnerable groups and eventually global society (Akenji et al., 2016, p. 2). When it comes to concepts of quality of life within discussions of sustainable consumption, it if often refered to as a means of achieving equity globally among rich and poor communities.

Wang et al., (2019) argue there is lacking commitment to implement the sometimes thoroughly developed action plans for sustainable consumption in both north/south contexts. Nonetheless, there is a large movement and engagement among NGOs, international organizations, civil society, and individuals who wish to live more sustainably, and there is a sense of positivism with the idea of giving up habits of overconsumption. However, the rise of consumption in developing countries raises the question whether the pathways of strong degrowth can appeal those living in poverty (Hobson, 2013). Lorek & Fuchs (2013) suggests that by improving the living conditions of people around the globe will help lead to social and ecologic sustainable development.

In developing economies, there are often insufficient resources to meet essential needs, whereas in developed economies, established mature production technologies limit fundamental changes of the environmental burden. These fundamental differences in developed and developing economies call for more research and analysis to illuminate various themes, focus areas and commonality, which to our knowledge, is rare within the research domain (Wang et al., 2019).

In their literature review, Wang et al., (2019) find that in a majority of the reviewed articles, there is a higher engagement with governmental policies, various strategic initiatives and programs in developed economies. The authors further suggests this may contribute to greater attention to developed economies and therefore affects the distribution of research and industrial funding provided by governments and funding agencies in developed economies (Wang et al., 2019).

Finally, an essential challenge of SCP is to replace the overly dominant and traditional model of limitless growth and consumerism. Environmental narratives that focus exclusively on the harm humans are causing the environment without the same attention on human needs are insufficient. A sustainable future is only possible if we change how we think about the world, and discourses of SCP need to pay attention to social equity, the economy and the environment (Barber, 2015).

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Focusing only on consumption patterns have often led to a technological frameworks by policy makers, urging consumers to buy green products instead of addressing the fundamental problems of the systems of consumption and production (Akenji et al., 2016). Framing sustainability and equity around consumption would limit to address the unjust divide between consuming and producing communities. Cultural norms and the ideas of consumption (in the name of living well) need to change in order to reach sustainability (Druckman & Jackson, 2010). It would not be sufficient to only target consumers, but structures in the systems in which we live would need to build the infrastructure to enable people to make these necessary changes.

In this thesis I follow a tradition of an institutional lens provided by the UN and its surrounding environment in order to address the conceptualisations made by leading actors in the work of sustainable development. In this case, the interpretation of SCP may therefore differ from other understandings of SCP, for example, deep ecology, degrowth movement, or new economy approaches.

3 Theoretical/Conceptual Framework

SCP does not only have clear links to the global sustainable development agenda, it also links well to communication for development, in particular with its ambitions for radical social transformations and behavioural change. Behavioural change interventions may benefit from targeting systems and institutions that effects the environment in which we live, and not only individuals and society. Seemingly little attention is paid to bridging the gaps between research and practice from the perspectives of institutions and how agencies operate (Waisbord, 2008). This links well to SCP because many emerging activities within the field attempts to link activism, science and policy in order to achieve these transformations.

Consumption being a part of people’s identity and culture, it is not possible to approach SCP with generalisations, or the ideas of ‘one size fits all’ (Hobson, 2013), the local context needs to be accounted for and engagement with local communities could help move away from narratives produced in a global north context.

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In answering the main research question, I look at to what extent Sida engages with the relevant stakeholders and target groups in their interventions. It will not only help answering what SCP priorities are there, but also what Sida defines as important for sustainable development. This chapter is divided into three sections: 1) institutional perspectives, which help guide the analysis with Sida as the main institution being analysed; 2) definitions of communication for development; and finally, 3) the concepts of empowerment through participation are introduced.

3.1 An institutional perspective

In the previous chapter some important international actors that lead the discourses of development and SCP was introduced. With this setting in mind, the institutions referred to in this chapter are the international development cooperation agencies, including the UN system as it has strong links to the global sustainable development agenda.

Institutions can be described as both a set of rules and policies such as the international development agenda and at the same time actors that lead and fund development projects. Institutions often appear as neutral instances with an objective view as of how to rationalise the world. However, they are also expressions of human determination, ingenuity, error and frailty by the people who operate them (Niezen & Sapignoli, 2017).

Large international agencies tend to act in the name of ‘diplomacy’ which require a cautious and conciliatory language. The employment of this ‘sanitized language’ may conceal the relationship between managerialism, policy processes, and the people whose lives are shaped by these policies. In addition, this results in vast power disparities (Niezen & Sapignoli, 2017, p. 11). Highly political decisions are also often diverted into supposedly neutral domains of measurement and technical procedures. This is the result of a general idea of governance informed by an assumption that something critical and valued can be measures and compared (Niezen & Sapignoli, 2017, p. 14).

This image of neutrality is problematic because it obscures the fact that a wide range of organisations have different goals and ways of working. Social change processes are suffering because of a general obsession with result-oriented projects that misses to see the political context (Tufte, 2017, p. 144). Attention to institutional practices would be beneficial in order to move away from some of the bureaucratic procedures that rewards institutional efficiency which, as a result, weakens community empowerment (Waisbord, 2008, p. 508).

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International organisations and agencies are often strongly dependent on state funding which in turn may cause restrictions for developing and implementing programmes as they often need to comply with the agenda and vision of states (Niezen & Sapignoli, 2017, p. 16). Governed by the Swedish states’ rules and strategies, and in accordance with the SDGs, human rights, and democracy, Sida applies three strategy levels which define within which countries and within which thematic area funding will go. There are also obligations to report the project results to the government, upon which the strategies are based on, together with instructions form the government and dialogues with collaborating partners (Sida, n.d.).

Niezen and Sapignoli (2017) argue there is a need to shift the attention paid in studies of ‘people in the margins’ to address the institutions leading the projects that are supposed to improve the lives of the people living in marginalised communities.

3.2 Communication for Development

Development is conceived as the work of improving the lives of the politically and economically marginalised communities (Waisbord, 2001, p. 35). Tacchi (2016) describes development as a political and socio-economic aspiration, and as a field of funded activities, which makes efforts to engaged with globally agreed agendas and protocols among nations and multinational agencies.

Some observers have noted that the limited progress in sustainable development is partly because development has been framed by persons or institutions that do not necessarily have the right knowledge of the represented communities or people (Manyozo, 2012). Early ideas of development had an optimistic approach which included the idea of having the ‘postcolonial world’ catching up with the global north. This was synonymous to industrialisation, political democracy or higher levels of literacy (Waisbord, 2001). It was assumed that the ‘Third World’ could catch up by measuring up with the political system, economic growth and educational levels of ‘Western countries’ (Waisbord, 2001).

Newer definitions of development gives a more comparative picture and refers to topics such as, opportunities to freedom of speech and social justice and, similar to the discourses of SCP, to quality of life. Communication was introduced as an instrument to solve these occurring problems, with two main strains of thought: 1) to solve the problem of lacking information; and 2) participation should solve the problems of power inequality (Waisbord, 2001).

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Manyozo (2012) argues that the field of development communication has emerged from postcolonial responses that required new ways of communication that seeks to meet the challenges of global imperialism, rural poverty, underdevelopment and inequality. The early ideas of communication for development had an underlying agenda speaking to the ideas of ‘breaking free from traditionalism’ (Waisbord, 2001).

Manyozo (2012) also presents three approaches to communication for development, which aims to shift the discourses of development including postcolonial theories and work as exercises to transform the political economy that allows people to achieve socio-economic equality. The dominant political economy is crucial as it is one major obstacle to achieve sustainable positive change in society (Manyozo, 2012). Communication for development is not only about informing but also aims at unpacking the core sources of structural inequality, marginalisation and disempowerment that prevents people from making the radical changes needed in order to live a life of wellbeing.

Finally, development communication should require sensitivity to cultural diversity, different contexts, and emphasise the values of local knowledge (Waisbord, 2001). As Freire defines it, with a general understanding of communication as a process in which development is created and stimulated rather than merely transmitted (Waisbord, 2001). Behavioural change should include participation and not only be based on information. Communication for development comes in as its own field to influence and transform the political economy of development in ways that allows individuals, communities and societies to define the direction and benefits of development interventions (Manyozo, 2012; Tacchi, 2016).

3.3 Empowerment through participation

Participatory communication can both include interpersonal and media communication, and it facilitates a dialogue among a variety of stakeholders involved in a project. In contrast to the dominant paradigm of communication as ‘sender-receiver’ and information-based premises, participatory approaches stresses the importance of: horizontal communication; the role of people as agents of change; and the exchanging and negotiation of partnerships and skills (Waisbord, 2001, p. 35).

While participatory communication is a major strategy towards community engagement, based on dialogues, respect for local knowledge and collective decision-making (Manyozo, 2012, p.

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155), some approaches fail to truly achieve the main purpose of participation. This includes involving communities at all stages of a project, from assessment and planning to implementation and evaluation (Waisbord, 2001). One reason participation is important is because the stakeholders affected by a development intervention should have a sense of

ownership of the whole process of a development intervention (Cadiz, 2005, p. 146).

Waisbord (2008) lists four basic principles of participatory communication:

i. With participatory communication the community should be the main ‘protagonists’

rather than being ‘passive beneficiaries’ in the decision-making processes and of processes of social change.

ii. Rather than the transmission of information and one-directional communication, participatory communication makes deliberation and participation of public affairs. iii. ‘Development’ is seen as a transformative process at individual as well as social levels

through which communities are empowered.

iv. Finally, contrasting modernisation which rather view local cultures as obstacles, participatory communication promotes local knowledge and action to inspire and guide social change.

Participatory approaches used in the development aid industry merely as a tool to reach predetermined goals has resulted in critique about these approaches for losing its dimensions of power distribution and collective action, while states, agencies and experts maintain control (Waisbord, 2008, p. 508). Within participatory communication, local knowledge should be central in determining problems, identifying solutions, and assessing results, and even though development cooperation agencies are strongly bound by the strategies and policy processes of governments, they are responding to the processes of development intervention approaches and research as well.

As per Freire’s definition, community engagement approaches constitute emancipation from structures of oppression. Liberatory education problematises the future where participants are being challenged to intervene in reconstructing their world (Manyozo, 2012, p. 176). Fundamental for both development and communication is participation, because it allows for

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the incorporation and articulation of several voices and interests in the design of development projects and interventions (Manyozo, 2012).

The main contribution to participatory communication is empowerment. Having ownership through, participation, influence, and control over the decisions which concern a specific community, brings a sense of empowerment. Instead of the non-political and ‘democratic’ dominance, Freire’s approach of liberating pedagogy is strongly political. Freire defines participation as a political project where unjust power relations were challenged, and where the method also contributed to liberation in the sense of tackling social justice (Tufte, 2017, p. 62). However, it is not enough to only involve communities in the agenda setting and decision-making processes but to require both the passing of power and to remove remaining constraints for the communities to exercise this power (Manyozo, 2012, pp. 165–166). Community engagement as mentioned above is a key practice in deliberative democracy allowing for reduction of dependency, increased local partnership and to provide the relevant political economy in which the intervention takes place (Manyozo, 2012, p. 154).

Unlike participatory theories, communication for social change puts emphasis on defining precise indicators which measure the impacts of interventions – for example, the expectations of funding agencies and the needs of communities to actively intervene in projects and to provide feedback (Waisbord, 2001). Participatory communication can be used as both a means and an end, and have come to mean multi-level change processes in which the local experiences are far from isolated (Tufte, 2017, p. 78).

The practice of social change and communication is informed by values, specific political agendas and ideologies, and organisations tend to focus on their own impact, setting aside the ‘considerations about broader, deeper and more complex questions of development and social change’ (Tufte, 2017, p. 144). It is difficult to imagine change without top-level commitment to institutionalise different conceptions of communication. Caution should be applied when considering how much change is possible in strong institutional settings, but questions should be asked and attention should be paid to larger societal structures in order to help move away from dominant mindsets (Waisbord, 2008, p. 517).

Community level governance have become an obligation for many countries in the global south as a condition to obtain foreign aid (Manyozo, 2012, p. 167). However, Manyozo continues to

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argue that there is not always a guarantee empowerment takes place when involving communities in decision-making processes, because: 1) only being involved does not directly link to empowerment; 2) the efforts required for local people to participate can be a problem; 3) community participation does not always involve all but just a heterogenous group and; 4) the micro-level focus have often lead to failures in recognizing wider societal structures of for example oppression and disadvantage (Manyozo, 2012).

Assessment, agenda setting, efficiency and empowerment are four dimensions which are important for participation to actually strengthen community engagement. From the phases of planning, implementation, reporting and evaluation four major engagement levels emerges: information, consultation, involvement and collaboration (Manyozo, 2012, p. 169). Ideally, before new knowledge and technology is introduced, local communities should be involved (Manyozo, 2012, p. 180).

4 Methodology

My personal interest for communication for development is strongly related to my interest for social justice and social change. I do believe attention to inequality between rich and poor nations is lacking in many discourses of SCP. I am interested in drawing attention to how agencies, driven by policies produced in developed world contexts, work with the international sustainable development agenda in a global south context. Therefore, in answering the overall question, I decided to first research some key topics in the field of SCP, and look at different key actors who work with the SDGs.

The role of international development cooperation agencies is key in defining the development agenda for the developing world and rural communities. The discourses produced by international development agencies are likely to be constrained by governmental and national priorities of the donor countries. Participation by rural communities is also limited by requirements of reporting which prioritise quick results instead of slow processes of change. As development is an area of actions where preconceived categories and classifications can overly determine research and evaluation (Tacchi, 2016, p. 119), it is valuable to investigate how international organisations and development cooperation agencies work with SCP.

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Even though my main interest is to address equity when it comes to sustainable consumption, in understanding how sustainable consumption is communicated in a global south context, I had to include production. This is not only because of the strong links between consumption and production, but also because in many cases, developing countries are often subject to initiatives that relates to production rather than consumption, as for example: organic agriculture, eco-labelling, or waste management.

Equity can be seen in everyday life in consumption patterns in the global north, and how that effects and connects the producers in the global south (see picture below). In this picture a woman who consumes a chocolate bar with a Fairtrade certificate, should guarantee a better income of the person holding the cacao beans producing the chocolate. Because many of these topics are in line with overconsuming cultures, there are reasons to ask who decides the priorities of SCP and who benefits from development interventions linked to SCP.

A Fairtrade public commercial poster (Picture taken by the author on January 16, 2021 in Berlin).

Despite my presumptions of the world being unjust and belief that the systems within which we live are barriers to achieve equity that needs to be critically approached and questioned. However, the intention is not to critique the work of Sida or other intermediaries working with SCP, but merely to constructively analyse key conceptualisations and priorities of SCP through their programmes.

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After searching through the resources of several large international development agencies, such as GIZ, USAID and JAICA I decided to go with Sida because I have some personal experience working under the structure of the institution from doing an internship funded by them. I am already aware there are some insensitivity towards culture and comprehension of disparities between developed and developing countries, through for example in their framing and approaches to developing countries in their internship training programme.

Sida is the Swedish international development cooperation agency governed by the Swedish state. The institution is required to follow strategical development goals compiled by the Swedish government that are highly associated with the SDGs. In addition to supporting organisations that contribute to the work of poverty alleviation, Sida have bilateral development cooperation in approximately 35 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, Europe, Middle East and the North Africa (Sida, n.d.).

In this degree project I carefully chose two sample texts out of multiple reports that are aligned with the topic under analysis and how SCP is framed in the international sustainable development discourses. One touches upon the discussions of eco-labelling and organic farming in the East African region. The other evaluates a project on consumer protection policies in the Middle Eastern and North African region.

Both reports cover the topic under study well, and though one would have provided clarity on the topic and implementation, two reports help give more nuance, and choosing more may justify data of what this degree project intends to address and clarify.

The reports are produced by a third party through Sida funded activities. Although the perspectives of the authors and of Sida’s inhouse staff and as an organisation may differ, they show the actuality of projects led by Sida through funding. However, the choice of text is valid because it represents a pattern detected from searching through different international development cooperation initiatives related to SCP.

Because this is a desk study it faces limitations in the lack of engagement with the participants in the field resulting in the lack of first-hand information. Conducting interviews with participants or traveling to the specific region to collect first-hand data, would probably have given the analysis richer information.

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In this case, the analysis depends on my interpretations of secondary information. By basing the arguments on extensive research on the topic, from both academic work and publications by relevant agencies, this help solving this issue to some extent.

While contemplating the idea of conducting a discourse analysis I chose to do a document analysis for two reasons. One being that it allows the study to focus on the context of the texts. As a standard approach to document analysis. The reports work as evaluation that are supposed to give recommendations for further actions and new approaches. Secondly, with a document analysis, the reports are be seen as channels between the evaluation teams, as well as programme participants and the funding agency, these documents connects the content to practical action, as well as being sites of action (Given, 2008).

5 Analysis and discussion

5.1 Reports

5.1.1 Evaluation of Sida’s Support to the Project “Organic Trade and Value Chain Development in East Afria” 2014-2019

Commissioned by the Embassy of Sweden in Addis Ababa and the Section for Regional Development Cooperation this is an evaluation of the project Organic Trade and Value Chain

Development in East Africa (OTEA) (Tengnäs et al., 2019). With the support by Sida this

project was implemented in Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda by partner organisations such as: the International Federation of Organic Movements (IFOAM), a member based international organisation that aims at finding ways to achieve SCP; the African Organic Network (AfrOnet), an umbrella organization which steer organic agriculture in Africa; and the National Organic Agriculture Movements (NOAMs).

Field work was done in Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania, and the evaluation is based on both document reviews, web searches, and personal interaction with stakeholders. These stakeholders consist of staff of the partner organisations, as well as farmers, traders and owners of outlets where organic products are sold.

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The evaluation is done under OECD/DAC’s standard evaluation criteria and the users for this evaluation are: the project management teams; higher management; the steering committee of IFOAM and NOAMs; the Swedish Embassy in Addis Ababa; Sida’s Africa Department in Stockholm; and other relevant Embassies in Eastern Africa (Tengnäs et al., 2019, p. 2). The overall development goal is to: ‘contribute to improving the income and livelihoods of

rural communities in East Africa through the development of market-oriented organic production’. The specific project objective is to: ‘increase trade with organic products, by supporting development of enabling regional policies, a capacitated production and trade environment, and an increased consumer awareness’ (Tengnäs et al., 2019, p. v).

The programme is involved with organic trade certification called Participatory Guarantee Systems (PGS) which involves producers to provide products which follows a specific standard (May, 2019). PGS is said to stand better chances to reach poorer groups than, for example, third-party certifications. As described by IFOAM, PGS is a guiding system which guarantee food quality and security, as well as the active participation of stakeholders based on social networks and knowledge exchange.

Several stakeholders are involved in the project evaluation process, such as supporting institutions, certification bodies and governments agencies. Together with the main target groups such as farmers, processors and traders who were expected to benefit from the project.

5.1.2 Mid-Term Evaluation of “Regional Economic Integration through the Adoption of Competition and Consumer Policies in the Middle East and North America (COMPAL GLOBAL-MENA)

The second report is a mid-term evaluation of a project named Regional Economic Integration

through the Adoption of Competition and Consumer Policies in the Middle East and North Africa (COMPAL GLOBAL-MENA). Sida in collaboration with the United Nations

Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) intend to ‘contribute to regional economic

integration, anti-corruption, good governance, gender equality and the SDGs’ through

improved consumer protection policies. The activities are planned in Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco (Pedersen et al., 2018, p. 11).

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The objectives of regional economic integration (REI) is to work towards more regional trade and the development of regional markets, through capacity development related to: ‘harmonised structures and regulatory frameworks in the trade sector focusing especially on

international standardisation, including in the climate area, mutual approval of products, competition issues, consumer protection and trade in food’ (Pedersen et al., 2018, p. 20). In

Sida’s strategy plan of development cooperation in the Middle East and North Africa it is expected to contribute to: ‘improved opportunities for regional economic development […]

through economic integration and improved opportunities for countries in the region to participate in free, sustainable and equitable regional trade’ (Pedersen et al., 2018, p. 20).

With an ambitious programme design, aiming to support collaboration across the region for knowledge sharing and capacity building, the programme puts emphasis on bottom-up approaches that should advocate participation and ownership by local communities. In line with one of Sida’s five principles, it has the objective to achieve poverty alleviation.

Taking the local context into account, there is emphasis on tailoring activities for different stakeholders and at the same time maintaining the goal of achieving a similar objective across the region. However, the ambitious programme design does not seem to be feasible because of unrealistic assumption about the linkages between activities, outputs, outcomes, and objectives together with the absence of relevance due to the large scope of activities (Pedersen et al., 2018, p. 12).

In the evaluation, questions about alignment between national and regional policy priorities, including gender equality dimensions; how these priorities were addressed and to what extent the planned activities could contribute to realise expected outputs and outcomes. In addition, interviews with participants were set up to find out about expectations, relevance to local contexts, and results effectiveness (Pedersen et al., 2018, p. 110).

5.2 Empowerment through participation

Reading the reports above, it becomes clear that the aims of poverty alleviation and to reach the most vulnerable groups from the scope of these programmes is not sufficient. Both project engage with general goals and strategies to achieve these outcomes, but neither offer measuring tools that may help evaluate this (cf Tengnäs et al., 2019, p. 3).

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It is possible that to some extent organic agriculture and consumer protection can contribute to poverty alleviation in developing countries. But such a mechanism is not clear from the analysed projects and project reports. And without clear evidence and measurement of impacts based on indicators used, the relevance of these programmes and their prioritisation is based on assumptions by the financing agency and not necessarily on any objective assessments. According to the five guiding principles of Sida, both programmes target vulnerable groups. These vulnerable groups include the poor, women, and youth; the level of impact on each group varies depending on the choice of product value chain (cf Tengnäs et al., 2019, p. 14). Regarding farming and agriculture, the best chance for success, according to the projects, is through producing and exporting cash crops –crops sold with the purpose to gain financial profits rather than being merely for sustenance. However, such assumptions are not clearly justified and there is uncertainty attached to it, because without any clear measuring tools it is hard to establish if this positively impacts on the rural local communities. From the literature, it could more likely benefit rich consumers (cf Tengnäs et al., 2019, p. 14). IFOAM recognises there is need to develop better strategies on how to include the most vulnerable groups but claims to be an NGO that does not intrinsically address what is awkwardly termed the ‘poorest of the poor’ (cf Tengnäs et al., 2019, p. 13).

Another example of vulnerable groups’ participation is shown through women’s participation in agriculture mainly in non-commercial farming. While there are clear ambitions to have gender mainstreaming approaches and to include women in the processes as much as possible, once it leads to commercialisation of a rural activity, women have to step aside for a growing interest by men: ‘In its traditional form, this had been the domain of women, but when the value

of production increased men took more interest and secured more influence’ (Tengnäs et al.,

2019, p. 31).

Additionally, the certification and PGS concepts are linked to price premiums which imply participation by the more affluent and less vulnerable communities. Some of the PGS groups have embraced the idea of organic agriculture through the promotion of healthy production and consumption, by providing supply for the local market (Tengnäs et al., 2019, pp. 17–18). However, many rural farmers cannot afford these practices of certifications leading to premium prices. Non-participation is experienced by groups who cannot outweigh the benefits from the

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costs and efforts it take to have the certification required to enter the market of premium prices (cf Tengnäs et al., 2019, p. 25). The obligation to engage with community level governance, in order to obtain foreign aid, is here proven to not be a guarantee to empower the targeted groups (Manyozo, 2012). In addition, there seem to be a connection with the ideas of non-participation to some extent. The approach aims at capturing grass-root concerns, but it seems more to be engineered community support for irrelevant programmes and policies (Manyozo, 2012, p. 158).

In the East African region, three states of farming are found: being ‘organic by default’; ‘organic by nature’; and ‘organic by intention’(Tengnäs et al., 2019, p. 13). Being organic by default or by nature means farming without having the resources to conventional farming. In addition, these farmers are less likely to have access to commercial or large-scale farming and production, and hence price premiums and the more affluent consumers. Certification is therefore problematic because, unless the farmers who are organic by nature or default are assisted to achieve other benefits or changes, the producers would be adhesive in their current situation.

For the MENA programme the primary target groups are consumer authorities (CAs) and consumer protection agencies (CPAs). The secondary target groups include judges, representative of the private sector, sector regulators, and civil society organizations. There is a section in the evaluation that put emphasis on participation in the name of having ownership of programme design and identification of priorities (Pedersen et al., 2018, p. 27). However, the evaluation shows that many of the stakeholders were not aware of the programme components, objectives or activities. Staff of CPAs and CAs experienced lacking influence in decision-making processes (Pedersen et al., 2018, p. 28), which again implies a form of non-participation.

Additionally, even though MENA was inspired by a strong sense of local ownership through bottom-up approaches from another similar project, it does not seem to have happened in the beginning of the project. The evaluation team finds that the countries were not included in identifying and prioritising issues of concern relevant to their own strategic needs (Pedersen et al., 2018, p. 33).

Sustainable Consumption and Production in International Development Cooperation : A case study of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida)