2nd Kenya National PGS Workshop

THE 2^nd KENYA NATIONAL PGS WORKSHOP

Date : Friday 17^th November 2023

Venue : Sports View Hotel Kasarani

Time : 9.00am – 4.00pm

Goal : Improved farmers’ livelihoods driven by an increased organic market value and effective organic sector services being part of a well-coordinated sector.

Objectives:

To develop strong PGS systems for greater transparency and guarantee of Kilimohai Organic Produce.
To provide opportunity for improved networking among PGS groups in Kenya.
To create a platform for cross learning about the opportunities and best practices in PGS.

Participants:

PGS group representatives from all over Kenya
NGO partners sponsoring PGS groups
Organic Sector Traders,
Retailers and
Interested parties from County Governments

Introduction

Whereas Organic farming is seen as an alternative to conventional farming which has negative attendant impacts on the environment, 3^rd party certification is often times seen as a significant hurdle in market access for organic smallholder farmers. Participatory Guarantee Systems were introduced as a way of empowering farmers to take charge of organic certification through self-guarantee while building groups to be cohesive marketing units for organic produce. PGS being a grassroots initiative is coordinated at the national level by the national organic movements who are in charge of among other things ; assessing and approving PGS groups, maintaining a national registry of PGSes by collecting and collating groups information.

With over a decade of PGS implementation, the process in Kenya has evolved to have its own unique flair, with multiple groups exhibiting diverse characteristics, norms and modalities. With such a rich pool of experiences to draw from, the Kenya Organic Agriculture Network (KOAN) the national coordinator for PGS groups in Kenya is finalizing an assessment of various PGS groups in order to catalogue best practices, challenges and opportunities and recommendations for growth.

As a way of sharing this information and enhancing interaction and experience sharing among PGS groups in Kenya, the Kenya Organic Agriculture Network is organizing the 2^nd Kenya National PGS Workshop which is envisioned to be a consultative session where PGS representatives from different parts of Kenya will meet up to share and discuss critical matters regarding how PGS in Kenya are managed. The workshop will offer opportunities to discuss the future of PGS in Kenya and how to decentralize the development and approval.

There will be launching of awards for outstanding PGSes in different categories where the judging criteria will be shared to the groups in attendance for judging in 2^nd National PGS workshop 2023.

Activities for the workshop will include:

Objective 1: To develop strong PGS systems for greater transparency and guarantee of Kilimohai Organic Produce.

Presentation of current PGS register and how they are functioning.
Discussion on how should an ideal PGS look like?
Discussion on the link between standards the system and the mark.
Presentation of the National PGS structure (NPGS committee and how they are functioning and their plan.)
Discussion on trust building in PGS systems.

Objective 2: To provide opportunity for improved networking among PGS groups in Kenya.