Farmers have been urged to join hands and work together through cooperatives and associations as a way of strengthening the agricultural marketing systems in Kenya. This was during a public participation forum where the Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA) presented the proposed draft food crops regulations for public scrutiny at KALRO headquarters on the 14th of March. The draft food crops regulations are anchored on the Crops Act Number 16 of 2013.
Ms. Beatrice Nyamwamu from AFA who presented the proposed food crops regulations said that the passing of the regulations would help address the current farmer challenges such as post-harvest losses, enhanced safety in the handling of the food we eat, better access to cross border markets as well as controlling the importation of agriculture produce.
Ms. Nyamwamu also addressed the need for registration and licensing which would be in three levels.
The registration and licensing for manufacturers, the registration of farmers and finally the registration of marketing agents or brokers as they have been commonly referred to.
The registration and licensing of manufacturers would incorporate food depots and warehouses, food processors and food packaging. This process would be carried out for the sole purpose of ensuring the ultimate safety of the food we consume as Kenyans. “For example, checks will be put in place for millers to ensure that only seed that is safe for human consumption is milled”, explained Ms. Nyamwamu. AFA will carry out inspections and only the establishments that meet the set food safety standards will be licensed to continue with their operations.
The registration of smallholder farmers is proposed to be conducted through farmer associations and cooperatives. The associations and cooperatives will then carry out the registration of farmers with AFA on the farmer’s behalf. All farmer associations will have to be registered with AFA if the proposed food crops regulations are passed by the National Assembly. These proposed regulations require that large scale farmers register directly with AFA. This exercise will only be carried out once but with the need for regular information updates.
The third proposed level of registration was that of marketing agents or brokers as they are commonly referred to as. This elicited a debate on the apparent legitimization of the operations of brokers. Majority of the concerns raised by the farmers present included the role brokers had been playing in destabilizing produce markets. In response, AFA reiterated that farmers often became prone to exploitation by middlemen because of how disjointed farmers have been.
Farmers were strongly urged to join associations and work together in groups to have a more powerful say in the marketing of their produce. “When you work together as units to aggregate and jointly market your produce, it will be easier to address the challenges you currently face. You may even phase out brokers eventually as they will no longer profit from you”, concluded Ms. Nyamwamu.
Click here to access the proposed food crops regulations.