Government in plan to scrap tax on animal feeds

Acting Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Adan Mohamed

Dairy farmers could soon enjoy tax-free animal feeds if ongoing negotiations between the Ministry of Agriculture and National Treasury are successful.

This was revealed Wednesday by the acting Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Adan Mohamed, during the ongoing 11th African Dairy Conference and Exhibition.

The CS said the Government was fully committed to supporting the dairy sector that currently supports over two million families in the country.

“My ministry is currently in negotiations with the National Treasury with a view to removing value added tax (VAT) on animal feeds, which contributes to 60 per cent of costs in agriculture,” said Mr Aden.

He said the Government will ensure that the problem of rain-fed agriculture, which is often seasonal due to unreliable rainfall, is solved.

To achieve this, the Government has put over one million hectares of land under irrigation.

“The last three years have seen more than 10 processing plants set up in the counties," he said.