Kenya tells tea factories to cut ties with Rainforest Alliance due to costs

The Kenyan government has told its tea factories to stop working with the Rainforest Alliance because it says the costs involved in securing the ethical label don’t add up for farmers. However the world’s third largest tea producer has ordered tea factories to suspend certification work because the cost is adding to the financial strain on struggling smallholders. In a memo issued after an industry summit, the agriculture principal secretary, Paul Ronoh, said the “burden of implementation” of the Rainforest Alliance scheme was vested on tea factories then “cascaded to the tea farmers and growers”. Rainforest Alliance is a global non-profit organisation that works to promote sustainable agriculture, forestry and responsible business practices. Ronoh said that as the Rainforest Alliance logo “had not demonstrated solid impact commensurate to the costs of implementation, the meeting resolved to suspend the scheme with immediate effect”.