Sustainable Procurement

The attention on sustainable procurement among the developing countries is gaining momentum, however, the challenge remains on the best approach towards its attainment. In line with this, Public procurement act was enacted in 2013 with the aim of defining the parameters of procurement in consonance with sustainability. Cursory assessments of the act prove inefficiencies in the system in correlation with sustainability. The prominence of fairtrade, West Africa in Ghana in recent times was seen as a complement to the procurement act. The principles of fairtrade certification revolve on sustainable procurement. The main objective of Fair Trade Certification is improving living standard of disadvantaged farmers and workers in developing and under developed nations. Therefore, Fair Trade Certificates pursue their objective in the format of particular requirements inter-alia: prohibition of child labour, protection of the right of employees, prohibition of the use of certain harmful chemicals, etc. This study sought to establish how fair trade standards can be integrated into the procurement of agricultural products in Ghana.