Export Vegetable Production in Kenya under the EurepGAP Standard: Is Large “More Beautiful†than Small?

This paper defines three types of typical certified farms in Kenyan export production: smallholder farms, large-scale contracted farms, and exporter-owned farms. It assesses their economic performance, compares the financial cost of compliance with the EurepGAP standard, and analyses transaction costs. Results show that larger farms are not generally performing more efficiently compared to smallholders who implemented the EurepGAP standard. Despite higher monitoring costs as a result of the introduction of standards, smallholder vegetable producers remain an important source for the exporter companies.