The Rainforest Alliance has dedicated contacts, or field liaisons, in select countries who, together with accredited certification bodies, can provide information and training to certificate holders and stakeholders in their region on the Rainforest Alliance Sustainable Agriculture Standard. Our field liaisons are:
- Gerardo Medina, based in Peru, supporting several countries in South America, gmedina@ra.org;
- Anthony Adom, based in Ghana, supporting West Africa, aadom@ra.org;
- Michael Orang’i Onchabo, based in Kenya, supporting East and Southern Africa, morangi@ra.org;
- Carlos Penera, supporting the Philippines, carlospenera@yahoo.com;
- Pham Vinh, supporting Vietnam, asia.fieldliaisons@gmail.com;
- Angela Hu, supporting China, ahu.consultant@ra.org;
- Soram Ashokkumar Singh, supporting India, asingh@ra.org, for normal/general communication;
- Mriganka Modak, supporting India, mmodak@ra.org, for certification related query;
- Giri Kadurugamuwa, supporting Sri Lanka, giri@aslm.lk;
- Intan Fardinatri, supporting Indonesia; ifardinatri@ra.org.
Our field liaisons support the roll-out of the Rainforest Alliance Sustainable Agriculture Standard by giving training for trainers, by visiting and training farmers, and by providing diagnostic audits on a limited scale, trainers and farmers are expected to contribute to this initiative by providing transportation, lodging, and meals; The field liaisons help provide interpretation of specific criteria in the Standard, and answer general questions. They also host trainings through frequent webinars in their region.
Staff that can provide information and training about the UTZ program can be found on the UTZ website in Bahasa, Chinese, French, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, Turkish, and Vietnamese.
Impactful training courses are key to the success of the Rainforest Alliance’s programs. Therefore, in addition to our local staff, we approve other local trainers and have built the Associated Trainers Network, a group of reputable and skilled trainers capable of supporting farmers and farmer organizations on their path towards certification. The approval process for local trainers (independent consultants and staff) enhances the quality of implementation of the Rainforest Alliance’s programs by monitoring and giving support around the training courses provided to Rainforest Alliance members. Learn more about the process for becoming an Associated Trainer.