Global Standards, Local Realities: Private Agrifood Governance and the Restructuring of the Kenyan Horticulture Industry Stefan Ouma Department of Human Geography Goethe University of Frankfurt Robert-Mayer-Straße 6-8 60325 Frankfurt Germany ouma@em.uni-frankfurt.de Key words: private standards EUREPGAP GLOBALGAP export horticulture governance global value chains markets Kenya abstract Over the past decade, private food safety and quality standards have become focal points in the supply chain management of large retailers, reshaping gov- ernance patterns in global agrifood chains. In this article, I analyze the relationship between private collective standards and the governance of agrifood markets, using the EUREPGAP/GLOBALGAP stan- dard as a vantage point. I discuss the impact of this standard on the organization of supply chains of fresh vegetables in the Kenyan horticulture industry, focus- ing on the supply chain relationships and practices among exporters and smallholder farmers. In so doing, I seek to highlight the often-contested nature of the implementation of standards in social fields that are marked by different and distributed principles of evaluating quality, production processes, and legitimate actions in the marketplace. I also recon- struct the challenges and opportunities that exporters and farmers are facing with regard to the implemen- tation of and compliance with standards. Finally, I elaborate on the scope for action that producers and policymakers have under these structures to retain sectoral competitiveness in a global economy of qualities. 197 ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY 86(2):197–222. © 2010 Clark University. www.economicgeography.org