The goal of this end line study was to understand the contribution that certification systems can make to poverty alleviation and pro-poor development. ISEAL Alliance engaged the Committee on Sustainability Assessment to rigorously assess the early impacts of the Fairtrade and UTZ certification processes on small coffee farmers in the Mount Elgon region of Kenya.

Although the region is reportedly emerging as Kenya’s next “coffee belt”, it is still one of the poorest in the country and has limited experience with standards and certification. Using an innovative mixed-methods approach, the study looked at farmers in three cooperatives, segregating farmers by poverty level to reveal new insights.

Listen to the podcast of researcher and author Carlos de los Rios discuss the final research report.