Ruto strips agriculture body of coffee role in sector shake-up

President William Ruto. [PCS]

President William Ruto has signed three Bills into law, stripping the Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA) of its role regulating the coffee sector and handing power to a revamped Coffee Board of Kenya.

The Coffee Act, 2023, the Meteorology Act, 2023, and the Miscellaneous Fees and Levies (Amendment) Act, 2026, took effect after Ruto's assent on Friday at State House, Nairobi.

The most far-reaching of the three is the Coffee Act, which reorganises the entire coffee sector.

The Coffee Board of Kenya takes over from AFA all regulatory and commercial functions, including licensing, registration of dealers, market intelligence, and promotion of Kenyan coffee locally and internationally.

A new Coffee Research and Training Institute, replacing the Coffee Research Institute, will advance research on diseases, crop varieties and production technologies, under a council whose chairperson is appointed by the relevant Cabinet Secretary.

The Miscellaneous Fees and Levies (Amendment) Act expands the scope of the Railway Development Levy beyond the Standard Gauge Railway to cover a broader range of rail infrastructure.

 It establishes a Railway Development Levy Fund and a board to administer it, with rehabilitation projects requiring joint approval from the Treasury and Transport Cabinet Secretaries.

The Meteorology Act establishes the Kenya Meteorological Service Authority as the principal technical adviser to both national and county governments on weather matters.

 The Authority absorbs the functions of the Kenya Meteorological Department and will issue forecasts, early warnings and disaster advisories.

It also folds the Institute for Meteorological Training and Research into a new Meteorology Training and Research Directorate, which will serve as the World Meteorological Organisation's regional training centre.

The law aligns Kenya's meteorological obligations with the Chicago Convention.