Frequently Asked Questions

Being organic is journey. The first thing you have to do is know your goal; (1) Are you growing for your own family’s consumption, or (2) Are you growing for commercial purposes (3) A mix of 1 and 2.

If you fall under (1), then you do not need to be certified organic, all you have to do is learn the basic of organic production i.e. Pest and disease control, soil fertility management, animal husbandry etc. There are lots of resources online to help you in this regard. Try IFOAM website, Kenya Institute of Organic Farming, BioVision Infonet etc.

(2) So you want to grow organic commercially? You will first require to be trained on organic production (this means that all your farm hands will also need to be trained, but you can do it yourself). Several organisations in Kenya are authorised to train on organic production, they include KIOF, Mana House and Baraka Agricultural College, you could also call US and organise for a crash course training. After training you will need to be certified, organic certification is a Process Certification, organic is not about the final product, it is the process that led to the final product.

There are a number of paths to certification

(i) You can be certified by a 3rd party company (e.g. ENCERT, ACERT, NESVAX Control, Control Union)

(ii) You can be certified as part of a Group (SEE ICS)

(iii) You can be certified as part of a Participatory Guarantee System (PGS)

for option (i) and (ii) you need the 3rd party company

for option (iii) you will need to Contact US