Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
company Ugo-Cert expressed his frustration in this regard: 'We have no bargain-
ing power, we have absolutely no say in international negotiations'. He detailed a
number of examples where Uganda had litle bargaining power in international ne-
gotiations, including a proposal for recognition of equivalence for practices related
to catle grazing. In this example, even ater years invested in a negotiation process,
IFOAM and international certifiers rejected Ugo-Cert's proposal.
Smallholder farmer exclusion
The discussion presented here demonstrates strategies to incorporate the specific
needs and interests of local stakeholder investments within organic certification ar-
rangements via the construction of locally-specific auditing and inspection arrange-
ments. The development of these strategies, however, has largely occurred without
consultation with, or inclusion of, those immediately affected by them: smallholder
farmers. As a result, group smallholder certiication shemes are not always sensit-
ive to smallholder needs, especially those of women smallholders. And while there
are now internationally recognized local inspection arrangements, local inspectors
may be constrained by international frameworks related to the ICS and its imple-
mentation. Similarly, local inspectors are frequently required to ensure smallholders'
compliance to internationally-derived standards, given the limited success from the
Ugandan organic movement to shape the content of organic standards.
he issues discussed here point to the extent to whih smallholders and other
local actors have been left out of the design of organic auditing processes, despite
these processes specifically emphasizing local-level relevance of organic certification
systems. In addition, there was evidence to demonstrate smallholders were excluded
throughout the implementation process. For example, smallholder farmers who were
members of the KOPCS stated they knew litle about the details of the standards
they were compliant with, or the requirements of the markets for whih their pro-
duce was destined.
Demonstrating this disconnect between the content of organic standards and
smallholder farmers' practices and knowledge, many smallholders explained they
did not know if it was possible to grow certain vegetables organically, and therefore
avoided growing these for household consumption in case this jeopardized the or-
ganic certification status of their cash crop. Some smallholders also stated they had
refrained from experimenting with new vegetable crops out of fear they would lose
their certified organic status. While smallholders who were members of the KOPCS
