By Njeri Kinuthia
Small scale farmers in Kenya have for a long time concentrated in the production of food crops targeting the local markets. This has denied them reach to international markets which would offer premium pay for their products. Most export markets have set standards such as the need for producers to be organic certified. As the world becomes more like a global village, international markets are opening to local producers, and farmers must step up to these opportunities by ensuring that their produce meet these required standards. One example is the cassava market. Countries beyond the African continent are in dire need of cassava flour, for various reasons, majorly health. Kenya, especially, Western Kenya, is a major producer of cassava, and if well organised, cassava producers in this region could tap on these emerging international markets to improve their livelihoods. One way to achieve this, is through working with cooperative societies to ensure that farmer groups supplying cassava for processing into flour have organic certification, for their produce to be acceptable in these markets.
A cassava cooperative society in Busia Kenya, Tanga Kona CBO is currently faced with this need after an American based customer, requested to be receiving 25,000Kg of organic cassava flour per week. The group has been selling their products to the local markets and their farmer suppliers are not organic certified, even though cassava does not require substantial chemical inputs to grow, since it is an indigenous crop.
Just like many other groups wishing they could have the organic certificate for their produce to be acceptable in export markets, knowing the various kinds of certification and what they entail is the first step for this society, to have its suppliers certified.
What is organic certification and why it is important?
Any business directly involved in food production or processing can be certified, including seed suppliers, farmers, food processors, retailers and restaurants.
Organic certification is a process by which an independent party gives a written assurance that the production/ processing systems are in conformity with organic standards. This allows accessing good organic markets while addressing hunger, malnutrition and related challenges as water use, climate change and unsustainable food production and consumption. This is because organic agriculture is a holistic production based on sustainable ecosystems, safe food, good nutrition, animal welfare and social justice.
During the production of organic produce there is avoidance of synthetic chemical inputs as fertilizers, pesticides antibiotics, food additives, sewage sludge and genetically modified seeds. The farmland should be free from prohibited chemical inputs for a number of years which usually range from 2 or more years. Maintaining physical separation of organic and non-organic products is strictly followed.
There are various organic standards on the private, national, regional, and international level. The International Federation for Organic Agriculture Movement (IFOAM) Basic Standards and Codex standards provide a frame work for certification bodies and standard setting organizations worldwide to develop their own certification standards and cannot be used for certification on their own.
The aims of organic standards are:
- To protect consumers of organic products against fraud in the markets.
- To protect producers against fake input suppliers.
- Give assurance that all processes in organic production, handling, up to marketing are screened and inspected to comply with set standards.
- Provide harmony for production, certification, identification and labeling of organically grown produce.
- To provide international guidelines for organic food control systems to facilitate recognition of national systems as equivalent for the purposes of imports and exports.
- To maintain and enhance organic agricultural systems in each country contribute to local and global preservation.
Types of organic certification
Third-party certification
Third-party certification is whereby the farm, or the business is certified by an accredited organic certification agency guided by national or international standards. To acquire this certification, the farmer, or the processor is required to undertake the following:
- Ensure that he/ she has adequate knowledge on the organic practices / standards, on what is allowed or not allowed in the practice of organic farming by studying the available resources on organic farming.
- Work to ensure that the production methods including all farm inputs, sources and suppliers follow the organic standards.
- Keeping records of the history of the farm and current farm activities especially results of tests done soil and water.
- Production/ processing plans- in case of a farmer, there should be a clear record of how the production process is intended to be done. (Where the seeds are to be obtained from, how the soil fertility is to be enhanced, pest control methods to be applied, how the yields are to be harvested and stored.
- Random and planned inspections and tests on soil and water are to be done to ensure that the planned approaches are being followed, and that the records are kept consistently.
If the farmer, is transitioning from conventional to organic farming, the farm must have been free of prohibited substances for 2-3 years. During this period of transition, the produce is not considered fully organic.
For other operations other than farming, the main areas of focus will be on the quality of ingredients, if in processing, and the conditions of processing, packaging, and transport.
Participatory Guarantee Systems (PGS)
Nowadays smallholder farmers can be certified under PGS (participatory guarantee system) which is an alternative for the third-party certification.
In PGS, farmers, consumers and stakeholders of the groups undergoing the process participate directly in choosing the standards of the processes, developing, and implementing the certification procedures and decisions.
PGS certify group producers based on their active participation and it is built on trust social networks and exchange of knowledge. It is done in groups and all participants must come from the same locality. If one member falls short of the set standards, in the process, the whole group loses credibility and cannot be certified. It is important to note that the certificate is renewed annually.
Certification bodies in Kenya
Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania were joined together to harmonize the existing organic standards into one as East Africa Organic Products Standard which was launched in 2005 and 2006. Under this umbrella, there are existing bodies that provide certification services in Kenya and other East African countries. These include: The Kenya Certifiers -0727 977 009; Encert.net- 0724 910 210; Ecocert- 0725 527 521 and Control Union- 0702 618 885. All these are renown certifiers in Kenya.