Unequal participation of smallholder farmers in coffee certification programs in Central Kenya

Kirumba, E.G., Mithoefer, D., Gassner, A., Pinard, F.

CAFNET PROJECT – ICRAF/CIRAD

29th MARCH 2011

Introduction Certification offers alternative governance (Raynolds

et al., 2007)

Potential for premiums, better prices, market visibility

8% of green coffee certified: fair trade, rainforest alliance, Utz certified e.t.c. (Giovannucci, 2010).

Concerns about exclusion of producers & imbalances of power (Swinnen and Maertens, 2007; Sexsmith & Potts, 2009)

In Kenya, coffee certification relatively new

1st certification schemes in 2005: Fair trade, CAFÉ, UTZ

Introduction cont’d…

Very little done on certification

Moderate price increases, better cooperative organization, markets access (Kamau et al., 2009, Pflaeger, 2009)

Gaps exist: What are the governance strategies? Do farmers self select or are pre-selected? What are the key determinants?

Materials and Methods

Materials and Methods cont’d ….

Tekangu cooperative society: 3200 farmers

Utz certification in 2008/2009 coffee season. Study done same period.

Certified farmers: 2176, Non-certified farmers: 1024

Sample size: 150 farmers. 75 per category

Simple random sampling

Finite population correction: <5%

Data collection: FGDs, informal interviews,

questionnaires & lit

Data analysis: descriptives, inferential statistics, multi dimensional scaling (MDS), regression analysis

Source: Field Survey (FGD)

RESULTS

Top down strategy Buyers interface between coop & international buyers

Write proposals for funding to donors

Select cooperative : based on quality, friendship, kinship

Convince coop officials: promise of high prices

Idea floated during AGM, <5% attendance, passed

Pre-selection: ‘A’ (good) and ‘B’ (poor) farmers selected

Promoter farmers identified & trained

Train fellow farmers

Suggested determinants of inclusionVariable Variable definition Expected

sign

Coffee income 1 = Yes, 0 = No +

Hired labour 1 = Yes, 0 = No +

Age of HHH Years +/-

Formal schooling No of years in school +

Family labour Number of HH adults +

Farming main occupation

1 = Yes, 0 = No +

Coffee production Annual cherry prod in Kgs

+

Trees on farm No of trees +

Inputs use Freq of chemicals & fertilizer use annually

+

Access to credit 1 = Yes, 0 = No +

Access to training 1 = Yes, 0 = No +

Access to extension 1 = Yes, 0 = No +

Farm size Total land size in acres +

Variable selection from suggested dets.

Comparisons between certified & non-certified farmers

 Variables Non-certified (N=75) Certified (N=75) Chi-

squareNo. % No. %

Access to credit

Yes 25 33.3 62 82.7 37.47***

No 50 66.7 13 17.3

Hired labour

Yes 39 52 66 88 23.14***

No 36 48 9 12

Extension

Yes 54 72 67 89.3 7.22***

No 21 28 8 10.7

Key: ns= not significant; * = significant at p<0.1; ** = significant at p<0.05; ***= significant at p<0.01

Variables Non-certified

(N=75) Certified (N=75)

Mean SD Mean SD T-statistic

Age 56.12 14.05 57.56 12.91 0.65 ns

Years in school 10.08 2.75 11.53 2.32 3.50***

Family labour 1.97 1.2 2.39 1.15 2.16**

Farm size 0.55 0.81 0.62 1.02 1.21 ns

Production (Kgs/yr)

246.84 399.57 943.15 966.65 5.77***

Trees on farm 22.67 25.23 34.47 35.74 2.34**

Inputs use 1.79 1.03 5.32 1.71 15.33***

Prices (Ksh./Kgs.) 29 33Key: ns= not significant; * = significant at p<0.1; ** = significant at p<0.05; ***= significant at p<0.01

Comparisons of certified vs. non-certified farmers

Key determinants of inclusion into certification

Variable β S.E. Wald df Sign. Exp(β)

Access to credit 1.22 0.59 4.24 1 0.04 3.38

Inputs 1.12 0.22 25.80 1 0.00 3.07

Trees on farm 0.03 0.01 9.46 1 0.00 1.03

Hired labour 0.36 0.67 0.29 1 0.59 1.44

Schooling 0.11 0.14 0.65 1 0.42 1.12

Family labour -0.28 0.29 0.93 1 0.34 0.75

Age 0.02 0.02 0.65 1 0.42 1.02

Extension 0.43 0.72 0.35 1 0.55 1.53

Farm size -0.72 0.40 3.26 1 0.07 0.49

Constant -6.53 2.27 8.24 1 0.00 0.00

Key: β (odds ratio); S.E: (standard error); Exp (β): (exponential beta); Wald: wald statistic; df: degree of freedom

Conclusions

Certification focuses on ‘good’ farmers with pre-enabling conditions

Pre-selection done to guarantee win-win situation

Interactive participation (acceptance, ownership, sustainability)

Training & information access for farmers – choices & self selection

Acknowlegement CAFNET project, IFRA & French Embassy for

funding

Supervision & guidance: Dagmar, Fabrice, Anja

Farmers, Tekangu cooperative officials, buyer representatives