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A significant proportion of farmers worldwide are smallholders, essential for local food supplies and income from the export of crops such as cocoa, coffee and fruit. Stringent certification requirements, however, threaten their livelihoods. This cannot and should not be the intention.
These small growers are often families who grow their crop on less than one hectare of land. Exports in particular give these farmers and their families the income to make a reasonable living.
Eosta has been buying product from small-scale growers for years, where the direct impact of an income can be seen in building homes, children's education and access to healthcare.
Nevertheless, the future does not look bright for these growers. Europe has made efforts on certification, with good results worldwide, such as on social and working conditions.
Companies exporting agricultural products are now required to obtain social certifications, to prove that labour standards and rights are respected on farms and in warehouses. Although these audit rules and social standards were originally designed for larger companies, small-scale growers are also facing them.
Gert-Jan Lieffering of Eosta: "I regularly encounter situations where I wonder: What are we actually doing? Frequently, I come across small growers who have marked their (emergency) exit with a sign somewhere along a path outside. Or a complaint box attached to the wall of a shack on the property. This while these people don't even have employees."
Not only are these certifications not suitable for these small-scale growers, but their cost is also significant. An average supplier of ours needs about four certifications, which involves substantial expenses.
There is little attention to the specific challenges of small-scale growers within the existing regulations and standards. With the advent of CSRD regulations, which increase pressure on data delivery and registrations, Gert-Jan fears that the position of these growers will deteriorate further. He cannot imagine that this was ever the intention.
There are now strict requirements and controls on water too, which is justified. However, the situation for small growers here is also different. Many growers have no money for irrigation systems and rely on rainwater. Yet they face water certification requirements.
It is frustrating and harmful to pay for an auditor, who is required to visit, and then finds that no irrigation is taking place. Rules are important, but nonsensical rules are both irritating and harmful to the future of small-scale growers.
La saison des raisins d’outre-mer débute mi-décembre, mais la planification commence dès maintenant. La demande de raisins bio reste forte et nos producteurs souhaitent savoir suffisamment tôt quels volumes réserver pour leurs programmes. En définissant les programmes en amont, nous pouvons mieux sécuriser les volumes bio et disposer d’une base plus solide pour proposer ensuite des offres compétitives.
Situé au bord de la rivière Oranje, dans la province du Cap-Nord en Afrique du Sud, Carpe Diem est depuis de nombreuses années un partenaire de confiance pour nos raisins biologiques. Son propriétaire, Gog van der Colff, a repris l’entreprise familiale en 2000 et a délibérément opté pour la culture biologique en 2006. Ce qui a commencé comme une initiative qui n’a pas convaincu tout le monde au départ s’est transformé en une exploitation biologique avant-gardiste produisant des raisins, des noix de pécan et des raisins secs.
Cette année, El Niño a clairement un impact sur la saison des mangues en Amérique du Sud. Des températures plus élevées et des régimes pluviométriques inhabituels affectent la floraison et rendent la disponibilité et les dates de récolte moins prévisibles.
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