State set to proceed with key agricultural reforms, says Felix Koskei

Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Felix Koskei confirmed that the process has been initiated to recruit the chairman of AFFA and other directors.  PHOTO: COURTESY

By Nicholas  Waitathu

The government has initiated the process to establish the Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Authority (AFFA) to take over all the roles of about 20 agricultural regulatory bodies. Two weeks ago, Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries Cabinet Secretary Felix Koskei gazetted the Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Authority Act, 2013 setting the stage for establishment of various governance structures. 

In an interview last week, Koskei confirmed that the process has been initiated to recruit the chairman of the AFFA and other directors.

The minister operationalised the AFFA Act on January 17, 2014 through a Kenya gazette one year after it was enacted. The regulatory institutions will be replaced by new directorates, which will be manned by directors to be recruited competitively.  Each directorate will also have advisory committee of five members to be elected by the farmers.

Some of the regulatory bodies, which would be converted into directorates, include Tea Board of Kenya, Horticultural Crops Development Authority, Coffee Board of Kenya and Kenya Sugar Board. Others are Coconut Development Authority, Pyrethrum Board of Kenya and Cotton Development Authority and Sisal Board of Kenya. 

 “From this week we are kicking off the process to recruit the chairman of AFFA and directors as required in the law,” said Koskei.  Once the directors of the new authority assume office, they will immediately commence the process of recruiting competitively the executives to be in charge of the new directorates to be created, for example, coffee, tea, pyrethrum and cotton directorates.

The new authority will have 18 directors inclusive of the director general, who will also be the secretary to the board. The chairperson of the board and eight members who will be tapped from the farming community will also be recruited competitively. The rest of the directors are principal secretaries from various line ministries. The authority, he added, once fully operational will fast-track the operationalisation of the Crops Act 2013 and Fisheries Act.

“The Authority shall, in consultation with the county governments, administer the Crops Act, and the Fisheries Act in accordance with the provisions of these Acts,” the Act says in part.  The minister deferred paragraph 1 (IX, X) and paragraph 9 of the First schedules of the Act.

Suspended sections

The suspended sections of the Act spared the Pests Control Products Board and the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (Kephis) from being converted into directorates. They will operate independently.

However, the minister did not indicate how the authority will operate without a secretariat since he suspended paragraph 9, which provides existence of the same.

Paragraph 9 states, “The Agricultural Sector Coordinating Unit existing at the commencement of this Act  shall for a period of not less than two years but not more than three years from the date of the commencement of this Act, act as the secretariat of the Authority.” Farmers lobby groups under the umbrella of Agricultural Industry Network (AIN) have been opposing the implementation of the new agriculture legislations, saying the country risks losing more than Sh200 billion in foreign exchange.

AIN national Chairman Edward Mudibo said Kenya’s key agricultural export markets such as the European Union may issue precautionary bans of at least six months on Kenyan produce, should Kenya fail to clarify how her exports would comply with existing export treaties.

“In addition, the regulations to facilitate the implementation of the AFFA Act are yet to be gazetted, thereby creating more uncertainty over the direction of Kenya’s agricultural sector,” said Mudibo.