Smallholder Farmers Closer to Certification

The current market is increasingly asking for certification as a guaranty for sustainability. Smallholder farmers are also confronted with this trend. However, smallholder farmers often lack the right skills and motivation to keep records of their input use and other agricultural data. These data are needed to demonstrate compliance with the respective certification standard.

In order to give this group a hand, CREM, on behalf of the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO), has developed a handbook for smallholder farmers who would like to be certified according to the Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB) standard.

Handbook for certification

The handbook consists of a planning part and a part in which the farmers write down what has actually happened in terms of input use erosion control or improvement of working conditions, for example. Each section concludes with an evaluation: what went right/wrong, what could be improved, and what are the plans for the next season. The handbook ends with a profit calculation of the pending year. This encourages farmers to improve their agricultural practices and maintain their administration.

More info: Wijnand Broer