Policy for Kenya (Tea): Farm and Supply Chain Certification

What is this document about?

This policy has been developed to facilitate the implementation of Version 1.4 of the Rainforest Alliance Sustainable Agriculture Farm and Supply Chain Standard within Kenya’s tea farming sector. It provides tailored guidance and clarifications to ensure the requirements of the Standard are effectively adapted to the local context. The updates in this version reflect stakeholder feedback and align the policy with the latest Farm and Supply Chain standards, building on the foundation of the previous version to better support tea producers in achieving Rainforest Alliance certification.

When and how to use this document?

This document shall be used by tea Certificate Holders (CHs) in Kenya for clarification and further guidance on how to implement the included requirements of the Rainforest Alliance Sustainable Agriculture Farm and Supply Chain V1.4 Standards and the respective rules. Certificate Holders preparing for V1.4 audits after November 6, 2025 must refer to this policy document. Similarly, Certification Bodies (CBs) must also refer to this document for evaluation of the requirements included during audits. For supply chain actors, applicable requirements will become binding from 1^st January 2026. To align with these requirements, the requirement on farms resuming online traceability also becomes binding on 1^st January 2026.

Changes in update from v1.0 to v1.1

1. Introduction

This policy has been developed mainly to align the requirements of the Rainforest Alliance Sustainable Agriculture Standard, Farm and Supply Chain Requirements to the context of tea farming operations in Kenya. It is important to note that this policy does not encompass all requirements of the Rainforest Alliance Sustainable Agriculture Standard, Farm and Supply Chain. Only requirements that necessitate clarification for both the country and crop context have been addressed. The requirements mentioned in this policy do not replace the full intention of the requirements in the Standard but rather mention specific aspects for further clarification for both Certificate Holders and Certification Bodies.  If a requirement of the Standard is therefore not covered by this document, both Certificate Holders and Certification Bodies must comply with the requirements and the rules as set out in the Rainforest Alliance Sustainable Agriculture Standard, Farm & Supply Chain V1.4 and the Rainforest Alliance Certification and the Auditing Rules V1.

2. Applicable Requirements for Farm Certificate Holders

2.1 Management

2.1.1 Service Providers – Requirement 1.2.2

For all Tea Certificate Holders, the following actors must be included in their scope and indicate them in the certification application form (CAF). Please note the list is not exhaustive:

• Service providers – security firms (E.g. Intercity, G4S, KK security)

• Labor providers (E.g. Cyka Manpower services, Koroso, Hastros)

Note: Transporters, suppliers of green leaf and firewood, and suppliers of pesticides e.g. rentokil are not included in the scope of service providers. For firewood suppliers Certificate Holders must comply with requirement 6.8.1 on energy use efficiency

After the CH identifies each of these actors, the CH must conduct an assessment of all service and labor providers against the applicable requirements of the Standard. The CH must:

• Develop mechanisms, including contracts, to ensure that these entities comply with the applicable requirements of the Standard for their activities within the scope of certification

• Keep a copy of all assessments done. All assessments could be in digital formats

• Show what measures were taken by the service and/or labor provider to comply with applicable requirements, If the assessment showed any non-conformities with an applicable requirement of the Standard

2.1.2 Farm Catchment Map – Requirement 1.2.9

Where available, catchment maps can be provided digitally during the audit.

2.1.3 Provision of Polygons – Requirement 1.2.10

For a group of farms, by the 1st certification audit (beginning of first certification cycle) for at least 10% of the farm units, geolocation data must be in the form of a polygon. By the second certification audit, 30% of geolocation data of farm units must be in the form of a polygon. By the third certification audit, 100% of geolocation data of farm units must be in the form of a polygon.

2.1.4 Training Services - Requirements 1.3.3 and 1.3.4

For large farms and individually certified Certificate Holders, workers must be trained on the following topics annually: 

• Gender equality and women's empowerment 

• Agrochemical management 

• Training on IPM Strategy 

• Child labor, forced labor, discrimination and workplace violence (Awareness Raising) 

• Occupational Health and Safety and Emergency Procedures 

Based on the results of: 

1. the internal inspections 

2. the risk assessment, and  

3. the management plan 

group management can include other trainings not mentioned explicitly in the standard. These trainings must be included in the management plan and conducted at least once in the certification cycle. 

For trainings required by law to be conducted by a trained professional, the applicable law supersedes the requirement in the standard. For internal trainings required by our standard, trainers of trainers (TOTs) can conduct trainings. 

2.2 Traceability

2.2.1 Reporting on the traceability platform - Requirement 2.2.1

All Farm Certificate Holders are required to use the Rainforest Alliance Traceability Platform to report volumes of Rainforest Alliance certified tea sold as certified as of January 1, 2026. This is applicable for volumes sold through auction or direct sale and transactions must be reported within two weeks of the end of the quarter. More information can be found in the Traceability Annex.

2.3 Farming

2.3.1 Soil Assessment - Requirement 4.4.1

All large farms in a group and individually certified farms must conduct an assessment on a representative sample of areas. A representative sample must include at least all the different areas for production on the farm and soils with different characteristics.

For a group of farms, the assessment is carried out for a representative sample of areas. It is suggested that the representative sample could be collected depending on the topographic characteristics of different zones. This could be guided by leaf collection routes/or zones/villages  

CHs must update the soil assessment at least once every 3 years. This does not mean that the entire assessment needs to be redone, rather that the plan be re-checked and updated/amended if certain aspects have changed. If there are still aspects that need to be addressed, this must remain in the plan. This is the same principle used when updating the Management Plan. It is suggested that this assessment is done before the certification audit and then updated thereafter for each new 3-year certification cycle.

2.3.2 Agrochemical Management - Requirement 4.6.9

Management must communicate and follow up with workers and group members (as relevant to that CH) on the appropriate methods for cleaning and managing empty pesticide containers. Training of workers and/or group members that are handling pesticides is recommended. If the supplier does not accept empty containers, they must be cut or perforated to prevent reusing or other uses. After containers have been cut or perforated, they can be brought to specific landfill/sandpits or destroyed using high-temperature incineration according to what is allowed under national legislation.  

Local solutions available can be used to manage waste, provided it is compliant with the requirements of the Standard. 

Note for Landfill/Sandpits: Are the disposal of waste material by burying it, especially as a method of filling in and reclaiming excavated pits.  

2.4 Social

2.4.1 Living Wage - Requirement 5.4.1

Total remuneration of all workers (permanent and temporary) employed by the CH must be assessed against the living wage benchmark or any other accepted benchmark.    

This is not applicable to workers on small farms. Small farms are defined as those with fewer than 10 permanent workers. The wage improvement plan is not mandatory anymore, but CHs could still employ one as a good business practice. 

All workers hired through labour providers and who stay under contract (and payment) by the labor provider must not be assessed against the living wage benchmark and other accepted benchmarks. However, the CH must ensure that these workers are still earning at least the minimum wage defined by the Kenyan Tea Sector. 

2.5 Environment

2.5.1 Waste Management - Requirement 6.7.1  

CHs must include any activities related to waste management in the management plan and develop any policies or procedures based on the need.

Management must create awareness with workers and/or group members on the proper methods for waste storage, treatment and disposal. This must include displayed communications on how to manage waste.

Management must designate areas for waste disposal, treatment and storage which do not pose a risk to people, animals or the ecosystem.

Local and innovative methods may be used for disposal of waste, for example:

• Segregation and composting  

• Collection of containers in designated areas

• Returning containers to suppliers  

• Liaising with county governments to explore further possibilities for waste collection

2.6 Data Protection

All CBs must include in the contract with Certificate Holders a clause on confidentiality of worker data shared, indicating that they cannot share workers’ data with a party other than RA without previous, written consent by the Certificate Holder.  

2.7 Audit Process Rules

2.7.1 Deforestation and Encroachment Risk Maps

As indicated in the certification rules (2.1.18), Certificate Holders must provide geodata risk maps to the CB as part of the audit planning process. Under no circumstance shall an audit take place without the CH sharing the risk maps with the CB prior to the audit. When there are technical issues with the Rainforest Alliance’s certification platform preventing CHs from generating the risk maps, the CB shall write to inform the Rainforest Alliance about the CHs challenges with generating the risk maps. The Rainforest Alliance may grant an exception for the audit to be conducted using the previous years’ risk maps provided there are no significant changes to geodata in the GMR.

2.7.2 Certification Timelines  

a. Certificate Holders and Certification Bodies must comply with the certification timelines set out in Version 1 of the Certification rules 

b. If a Certificate Holder has provided sufficient evidence of NC closure and this is confirmed by the Certification Body, before the maximum allowed 10 weeks after the last day of the audit, then the Certification Body must take a certification decision within two weeks of this closure. Thereafter the Certification Body must submit the certification decision and the final audit report through the RACP within 1 week after the certification decision has been taken. 

Example: the Certificate Holder provides sufficient evidence of NC closure 6 weeks after the audit was concluded. The Certification Body must verify the evidence of closure and take a certification decision with 2 weeks i.e. 8 weeks after the last day of the audit. The maximum of 12 weeks allowed to take the certification decision is only applied if the Certificate Holder took the maximum 10 weeks to close NCs.  

c. As per the Certification Rules:  

• All Certificate Holders that have received one or more NCs shall close at least all NCs on all base & specialized requirements following the process described under the section Nonconformities and possible consequences of this document. 

• The timeline for closure of the NCs shall be defined by the Certificate Holder and the Certification Body considering the maximum of 10 weeks after the last day of the audit that is defined for the CH to provide evidence of closure to the Certification Body. 

d. Non-certification or cancellation decision

• The Certification Body or the Rainforest Alliance may decide to immediately cancel the current certificate of the Certificate Holder and/or decide not to certify the Certificate Holder for any of the reasons set forth in the requirements, or any other reason if necessary to protect the credibility of the Rainforest Alliance certification program: 

  • Corrective actions have not been implemented satisfactorily within the timeframe described in the certification process above. 

• As per the rules highlighted above a consequence for the Certificate Holder of not closing NCs within the 10-week timeframe can lead to a non-certification decision. 

2.7.3 Extension Requests

a. As per section on possible extensions in the current version of the Certification Rules, Certificate Holders can request a once off time-extension of their certificate and license of up to 3 months after the expiry date of their certificate and license, to the Rainforest Alliance or CB, to sell a product as Rainforest Alliance certified or to prevent a gap in certification.

b. Only 1 time extension request can be made by a CH for a maximum period of 3 months per year.

2.7.4 Incentivized Surveillance Audits

All group and individual tea Certificate Holders in Kenya currently certified will be eligible for the incentives listed in version 1.1 of the certification and auditing rules from the binding date of this policy. As per the certification rules V1.1: 

a. Good Performance: reduced sample size and scope of surveillance audits (3.4.5–3.4.7): 

Farms CHs that are able to meet the following requirements are eligible to have a sample size of 75% of the square root of small farms. Group CHs with large farms are eligible for 75% of the 25% sample of large farms. 

• No history of non-certification or cancelation in the past 3 years. 

b. Great Performance: further reduced sample size or a remote audit (3.4.8–3.4.9): 

Group farm Certificate Holders meeting the criteria below that receive a positive certification decision in their first surveillance audit, are eligible to receive a reduced sample size of 50% of the square root of small farms in their second surveillance audit. 

• No history of non-certification or cancelation in the previous 3 years. 

• No NCs issued during the previous audit in the certification cycle on any of below mentioned topics: 

1. Loss of physical traceability  

2. Application of prohibited pesticides, excluding an exception 

3. Assess-and-address remediation 

4. Deforestation and encroachment on protected areas 

Individual farm CHs meeting the conditions in section above may receive their second surveillance audit as a remote audit, as long as they can meet the requirements for a remote surveillance audit as in the Auditing Rules. 

NB: Certificate holders benefiting from the maximum sample size of 100 are not eligible for the two incentives above. 

c. Outstanding Performance: skip second surveillance audit (3.4.10): 

Farm CHs that meet the following requirements are eligible to skip the second Surveillance Audit:  

• No history of non-certification or cancelation in the previous 3 years. 

• No NCs issued during the previous surveillance audit on any of below mentioned topics: 

1. Loss of physical traceability 

2. Application of prohibited pesticides, excluding an exception 

3. Deforestation and encroachment on protected areas 

4. Any Base requirements in the Social Chapter of the Farm Requirements 

• Are not opted-in to receive an audit in line with EUDR requirements 

During verification, the following NCs do not disqualify a CH for the incentives: 

• Loss of physical traceability – refers to the inability to track or verify the physical location, movement, or status of certified tea through the supply chain or production/ processing process. Non-conformities in the following requirements are not considered as loss of physical traceability:  

1. All requirements in the farm standard section 2.2 on online traceability 

2. 2.1.1 yield estimations  

3. 2.1.4 product flow map 

4. 2.1.9 methodology of conversion factors 

• Deforestation and encroachment on protected areas - this only relates to non-conformities where cases of deforestation or encroachment have been confirmed during the audit 

2.7.5 Scope of Surveillance Audits

This section is applicable to all Rainforest Alliance’s tea farm certificate holders for all surveillance audits within the certification cycle. In addition, the following sampling adjustments from version 1.1 of the auditing rules (5.5) must be made: 

• For Group Certificate Holders the Certification Bodies may visit more than six group members per day per auditor. For large farms, it shall be maximum three farms per day per auditor.  

• During these incentivized surveillance audits, CBs must focus on auditing the following topics: 

1. All requirements with non-conformities raised during the previous audit 

2. All requirements in the management chapter 

3. All requirements in the social chapter 

4. All requirements on deforestation and encroachment on protected areas 

5. All applicable indicators 

2.7.6 Maximum Sample Size

The default sample size for groups with 10,000 members or more, will be 100. However, the Certificate Holders qualifying for this will only be eligible for the outstanding performance incentive.

2.7.7 Investigation Audits

Additionally, as per the certification rules (2.3.42), where the matters under investigation are not confirmed, the Certification Body must cover all the costs of conducting the audit.

2.7.8 Rainforest Alliance Grievance Mechanism

As outlined in the Certification Rules (4.7), any grievance concerning the Rainforest Alliance Certification Program shall be handled according to the Rainforest Alliance Grievance Procedure

CHs, CBs, or other stakeholders in the certification process, can submit any grievance related to compliance with the Rainforest Alliance Certification Program and its trademarks through the online grievance form on the Rainforest Alliance website.

The CH shall first submit a grievance through the grievance procedure of the CB. If that does not resolve the grievance, the CH may submit a grievance through the Rainforest Alliance Grievance Procedure. Please refer to the Certification Rules or the Grievance Procedure for more information.

2.7.9 Cost Transparency Tool

For all audits, Certification Bodies must fill in the cost transparency tool prior to the audit and make it available upon request to the Rainforest Alliance. This will be made available to a Certificate Holder upon request to the Rainforest Alliance.  

3. Requirements for Supply Chain Certificate Holders

The requirements below are effective for volumes purchased starting January 1, 2026.

3.1 Traceability

All Supply Chain Certificate Holders who are purchasing Rainforest Alliance Certified Tea from Kenya Farm Certificate Holders will be required to use the Rainforest Alliance Certification Platform. The volumes originating from Kenyan Tea Farm Certificate Holders must be transacted in the Rainforest Alliance Traceability Platform through to the manufacturing of the finished product, ready for sale to the end consumer. In the case where the Kenyan tea volumes are blended with volumes from other origins; the Kenyan Tea volumes will be transacted through Rainforest Alliance Traceability Platform while the other volumes may not. More information can be found in the Traceability Annex. 

3.2 Premium

For volumes originating from Kenya Farm Certificate Holders, a different entity is responsible for the payment of premium and there is a mandatory minimum premium amount: 

1. Entity responsible for the payment of premium: First entity receiving the transaction from the Farm certificate holder. This could be in a direct sale or the first purchase from the auction house. 

2. Minimum premium amount for Kenya tea: $50 USD/Metric Ton of made tea equivalent ($0.05 USD /kg). The minimum premium requirement is only applicable for Kenyan tea volumes that are sold via auction and not applicable for direct sale transactions.

The payment of the premium will happen directly between the Farm Certificate Holder and the entity receiving the first transaction as defined above. The Rainforest Alliance payment facility will not be used for these payments. More information can be found in the Premium Annex. 

3.3 Royalties

For volumes originating from Kenyan Farm Certificate Holders, a different entity is responsible for the payment of the royalty. The entity responsible is the first entity receiving the transaction from the Farm Certificate Holder in the traceability platform. This could be in a direct sale or the first purchase from the auction house. The royalty will be triggered upon confirmation of the transactions in the Rainforest Alliance Traceability Platform and invoiced on a monthly basis. More information can be found in the Rainforest Alliance License Agreement General Terms and Conditions. 

Other information

Date of first publication of this document (v 1.0): December 11^th 2023

Documents indicated as “binding” must be complied with for certification. Documents indicated as “non-binding” provide non-mandatory information to help readers understand and implement requirements and other binding content.

Translation Disclaimer

For any question related to the precise meaning of the information in a translation, consult the official English version for clarification. Any errors or differences in meaning due to translation are not binding and have no effect for auditing or certification purposes.

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More information?

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