The government, through the Ministry of Agriculture, has directed tea factories to immediately stop working with an international 'ethical' tea labeling company organisation that brands most of Kenya's tea destined for export.
According to the Guardian, Agriculture Principal Secretary Paul Ronoh signed the memo directing tea factories to stop working with the Rainforest Alliance over the costs involved in securing the ethical label, asserting that it does not add up for farmers.
The non-profit organisation is one of the world’s most recognisable certification schemes, with its green frog seal on food packaging a sign that consumers “can feel confident that these products support a better world”.
Additionally, the global non-profit organisation works to promote sustainable agriculture, forestry, and responsible business practices.
The green frog seal appears on nearly 240 brands and is almost ubiquitous in UK supermarket tea ranges, with big names including Tetley, PG Tips, and Yorkshire Tea among those signed up. About half the tea consumed in the UK comes from Kenya.
According to the government, the company's certification work, despite positioning Kenya's product in the export market, added to the financial strain on struggling smallholders in Kenya.
Further, the government criticised the Rainforest Alliance for shifting certification costs from tea factories to farmers and growers, placing an added financial burden on already struggling smallholders. Ronoh argued that such costs “ordinarily should be met by the customers”, not the producers.
Moreover, Ronoh said that the Rainforest Alliance logo had not demonstrated a solid impact commensurate with the costs of implementation.
A recent Fairtrade Foundation poll found that only one in five tea workers and farmers in Kenya are earning enough each month to support their families with essentials.
The government is now considering putting in place a localised certification model that would likely have similar sustainability goals but lower compliance costs and less administrative complexity.
The developments come at a time when stakeholders in the tea sector raised concerns that there should be an immediate replacement so that Kenya's tea continues to thrive in the foreign market.
A spokesperson for the Ethical Tea Partnership (ETP), an NGO focused on tackling problems in the tea sector, said it hoped the Kenyan suspension would be ''short-lived and that a solution to this current impasse will be found''.
In 2024, Kenya earned approximately Ksh181.7 billion from tea exports, marking a continued rise in earnings following the record Ksh180.57 billion registered in 2023. The country continues to hold a strong position in the global tea market, with tea remaining a top foreign exchange earner.
Total tea sales—including local consumption and stock already committed for trade—reached Ksh215 billion in the same year. The performance was driven by increased demand in key markets such as Pakistan, Egypt, and the UK, despite growing concerns among stakeholders about the rising cost of compliance with international certification standards.
