Fresh Perspectives Issue 27. How private standards designed for export produce also influence Kenyan domestic markets

Abstract

In the late 1990s certification news on fresh exports from Kenya was received with apprehension across all of the horticulture industry. Some feared certification would omit smallholders from the export market. In response, the government, through the Ministry of Agriculture and Horticultural Crops Development Authority (HCDA), launched an information campaign to exporters and to farmers - but still a lot remains to be done. Several studies have shown a decline in the number of smallholders participating in the fresh produce export market in Kenya since the introduction of the GlobalGAP standard in 2003. Some studies have estimated up to a 60 per cent decline. This paper gives a personal view on the impacts of private standards such as GlobalGAP on smallholders in Kenya, both in export and domestic markets