Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
had received information and training from Amfri Farms (the buyer) related to
growing pineapples organically, this information had not extended to organic grow-
ing practices related to non-cash crops (including tomatoes, red onions and pump-
kin). As a result, smallholder farmers had come to rely increasingly on the local mar-
ket for the purhase of some of their basic vegetable needs.
Smallholder farmers also expressed frustration at the separation between them-
selves and the consumers of their produce. Smallholders lamented that consumer
preferences and market requirements seemed to 'fall from nowhere', that they were
constantly hanging, leaving them sometimes unable to comply. One smallholder
held up wrinkled and tatered blak and white photocopied photographs of fruit, and
explained this was the market information they received from Amfri Farms as ad-
vice on quality and size. The photographs themselves displayed bananas with blem-
ishes and marks, and pineapples of various sizes. The farmer lamented:
How can we know about your markets? How can we know what you want when
all we have to go by are suh images? I want to go to your country, to learn more
about what you
muzungu
(white people) want.
Smallholder farmers were frustrated by the limited atempts to involve them, the
outcomes of whih frequently resulted in adverse economic impacts, for example
through loss of market access. Smallholders also stated that poor engagement and
exclusion from access to information maintained their dependence on both the certi-
ier and the export company, with many expressing frustration about knowing litle
about where their produce was destined for after leaving their farm.
Discussion and conclusion
In both Kenya and Uganda, smallholder farmers are working within the context of
international standards for organic, fair and/or ethical trade, and are part of a grow-
ing equivalence movement whereby local and global-level actors are able to negoti-
ate hanges to global standards to beter relect African contexts. hrough exploring
smallholders' contributions to Kenya-GAP and Ugo-Cert negotiations, this hapter
has demonstrated a number of similarities and differences between the Kenyan and
Ugandan experiences.
In Kenya, there has been some success in altering ethical standards to beter re-
flect local specificities. Namely, the national industry body for horticulture, FPEAK,
was successful in convincing GLOBALG.A.P of the need to refocus on underlying
