Private Standards, Small Farmers and Donor Policy: EUREPGAP in Kenya (Presentation)

John Humphrey of the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex presented “Private Standards, Small Farmers and Donor Policy: EurepGAP in Kenya.” The seminar was a special event of the Linking Small Firms to Competitiveness Strategies Breakfast Seminar Series sponsored by the USAID Microenterprise Development office. Dr. Humphrey addressed the market access condition faced by farmers as they work to comply with EUREPGAP process-based standards and certification. Donor support for small farmer certification is critical for rural poverty reduction. Moreover, the EUREPGAP standard presents not only new challenges for farmers, but for the exporters. The exporters supply the supermarkets in the horticultural value chain, who may insist products must be certified which impacts both farmers and exporters. Possible options to overcome shortcomings in current donor policies were discussed, one option being the resistance from intervening at all.