PGS Explained: Participatory Guarantee Systems for Organic Certification in Kenya

Not every organic farmer is trying to reach Rotterdam or Brussels. Many are trying to reach the supermarket in Nairobi, the school feeding programme down the road, or a farmers’ market that pays a fair premium for produce buyers can trust. For that goal, there’s a route that costs a fraction of third-party certification: the Participatory Guarantee System (PGS). This guide explains what PGS is, how Kenya’s version works through KOAN and the Kilimohai mark, the real step-by-step process, and — just as importantly — when PGS is not the right choice.

This article sits alongside our guides to organic group certification and building an Internal Control System — those cover the third-party, export-recognised route. This one covers the peer-based, local-market route. They solve different problems; read on to see which fits your goal.

Agrosocial is an independent certification consultancy. PGS groups in Kenya are coordinated directly through KOAN; our role is helping farmers and cooperatives decide which route — PGS, third-party group certification, or both in sequence — fits their market goals, and preparing them for whichever standard they pursue.

The Basics

What a Participatory Guarantee System Actually Is

A Participatory Guarantee System is exactly what its name says: a guarantee of organic integrity built through participation rather than external inspection. Farmers, buyers and other local stakeholders — sometimes consumers, sometimes extension officers — form a group and take turns verifying that each member is genuinely farming organically. It runs on transparency and trust: everyone knows everyone, everyone’s farm gets visited by peers, and the group collectively stands behind the claim that its produce is organic.

This is fundamentally different from the third-party model, where a farmer pays an accredited, external certification body to send an independent auditor. PGS deliberately trades some of that independence for accessibility — the internal procedures are lighter and less costly, which is precisely what makes it usable for smallholder groups who could never afford annual certification-body fees.

The Key Decision

PGS vs Third-Party Certification

This is the single most important table on this page — it’s the decision that determines everything else about your certification journey.

Who’s In Charge

Who Governs PGS in Kenya

In Kenya, PGS is not an informal free-for-all — it operates under a defined national structure. The Kenya Organic Agriculture Network (KOAN), as custodian of the East African Organic Products Standards (EAOPS), sets the rules that PGS groups must follow and is the body that ultimately approves and certifies groups. Successful groups are awarded the Kilimohai Organic Mark — the trust label consumers and buyers recognise as meaning EAOPS-compliant organic production.

Importantly, the Kilimohai mark itself is awarded through either route — PGS or third-party certification — so the mark on a product doesn’t tell you which path the farmer took. What it does tell you is that the produce meets the EAOPS organic standard, verified one way or the other.

The Practical Path

How to Get PGS Certified — Step by Step

In practice, this whole cycle — from first training to a certification decision — typically runs several months, as the real Kiambu example below shows.

Proof It Works

Real PGS Groups in Kenya

PGS isn’t theoretical — it’s actively growing across several Kenyan counties, with real farmers reaching real buyers because of it.

Murang’a: from PGS certification to contract farming

In Ithanga Ward, Gatanga Sub-County, three farmer groups — Busara PGS Group, Githaku Gia Kambi Mawe PGS Group and Triple G PGS Group — earned PGS certification under the Kilimohai Organic label in 2025. That certification formally recognised their organic compliance and opened the door to premium, structured markets: the groups moved into contract chilli farming, giving members assured market access and predictable pricing they didn’t have as individual, uncertified growers.

Kiambu: the full pipeline in action

A Kiambu County group shows the realistic timeline. Seventy-four farmers were trained in September 2025 under a donor-supported programme; the group then completed its internal peer-review process and submitted a report to KOAN. In February 2026, KOAN conducted its own on-farm assessment on a sample of the trained farmers to verify eligibility — with the group then awaiting KOAN’s certification decision. From first training to assessment: roughly five months.

Beyond Kenya, the same model is expanding regionally — Uganda’s organic movement (NOGAMU) recognises the Kilimohai mark, and a five-country initiative spanning Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania and Madagascar has supported PGS groups across East and Central Africa, pointing to PGS as a genuinely regional, not just national, growth story.

The Right Fit

Who PGS Is Right For

• Smallholders selling locally — Kenyan supermarkets, farmers’ markets, school feeding programmes, local processors — who need a recognised trust mark without third-party fees.
• New organic groups not yet ready for the cost or documentation load of a full Internal Control System.
• Farmers wanting a genuine community-verification model — peer accountability, shared learning, and local market trust.
• Groups building toward export who want a lower-cost first step while they develop the organisational capacity for third-party certification later.

Be Honest With Yourself

What PGS Cannot Do

This is the part every farmer needs to hear clearly before investing time in PGS: PGS and the Kilimohai mark are not recognised for exporting to the EU, US or UK. Those markets require organic certification from an accredited third-party body against a recognised standard — EU Regulation 2018/848 or USDA NOP — which for smallholders usually means the Group of Operators route with a certified Internal Control System.

If your goal is a European or American organic buyer, PGS on its own will not get you there — no matter how well-run your group is. It’s the wrong tool for that specific job, even though it’s an excellent tool for the local-market job.

Playing the Long Game

Using PGS as a Stepping Stone to Export

Many successful Kenyan organic groups don’t treat this as an either/or choice — they use PGS as the first stage. Running a PGS group builds exactly the organisational muscle a future Group of Operators needs: a functioning member register, farmers used to being inspected and following organic practices, and a group used to operating under shared rules. When the group later pursues third-party certification for export, much of that discipline already exists — it just needs to be formalised into a certified Internal Control System and audited by an accredited body.

If that’s your trajectory — local market income now, export market access later — it’s worth planning the sequence deliberately rather than starting the export-grade paperwork from zero when the time comes.

Quick Answers

Frequently Asked Questions