Benefits of Certification For Producer Organizations Part 2

1. Benefits of Certification For Producer OrganizationsPart 2 Presented by: Amos Thiongó

2. Benefits of Certification 3. For Consumers • Food safety – proper use of pesticides to ensure food is safe for human consumption. Involves ensuring that farmers comply with chemical use recommendations, pre-harvest intervals, hygiene in produce handling etc • Traceability – a consumer can trace a produce right to an individual farmer. It makes a consumer feel confident when he knows where the food on his plate is coming from • Promote trade justice through execution of purchasing power – some certifications promote trade justice by allowing ordinary consumers to contribute to development of producing communities. The Fairtrade premium is a good example of a trade justice tool available to ordinary consumers through their purchasing power.

3. Benefits of Certification 4. For The Environment and Animals • Animals welfare groups are particularly strong in developed countries – farms are certified for keeping livestock in humane conditions, responsible slaughterhouse and handling • Protection of fauna and through through Good Agricultural practises,

4. Benefits of Certification Someof the certifications also promote specific benefits for farmers including; • Safety net prices (Fairtrade) – to ensure products do not tumble beyond a particular minimum threshold. The Fairtrade minimum price is participatorily computed using Cost of Sustainable Production (COSP) • Community Development premiums (Fairtrade, Rainforest alliance, UTZ) – a percentage price mark up is reserved for producing community development projects • Online Track and Trace system (UTZ) – an online system for traceability of products • Technical support to comply with standards (organic, Fairtrade, UTZ, RA) – support farmers to comply with various standards

5. 5. Challenges to Certifications • Cost of certification is prohibitive – cost of on site inspection is quite high (over $ 2000 for a small co-operative) for most of the certifications. The cost of certification is mainly borne by the farmers • Competition amongst the certification institutions which has led to market segregation and fragmentation • Rapidly changing standards due to climatic and social and economic factors both in producing and consuming countries • Different markets favor different certifications. This makes it very expensive and tedious to access different markets since you have to be audited for each certification

6. Challenges to Certifications • Who drives the certifications? Is it the producer or is it the consumer???? In most cases it is the consumer and standards set may not take recognition of producer context

7. Which Way Forward • Due to increased social and environmental awareness by consumers, certification schemes will continue to grow • Organic and Fairtrade products are gradually getting available in middle to High income retail chains in developing coutries • Climate change debate is driving need to reduce carbon footprint and water footprint… and the need for compliance.

8. Asanteni Sana