Kenya’s coffee reforms could stall after amendments were overturned by team of MPs

NAIROBI, Kenya December 8 – Reforms in the coffee sub-sector are likely to stall after MPs overturned amendments in a report last week.

According to a report on the review of the Coffee Amendment Regulations 2021, the House committee rejected the amendments citing non-compliance with the law.

“After considering the 2021 Crop Amendment Regulations (Coffee), the committee recommends that the House rescind the said regulatory text in its entirety for non-compliance with the law,” read a statement by the committee chair, William Kassait.

In the report, the committee highlighted an inconsistency in the public participation lists, as the attendance lists reflect that public participation was conducted in 2018 before major legislation was approved in 2019.

The committee also added that the National Federation of Coffee Cooperatives was concerned that the regulations had led to curtailing the progress of ongoing reforms in the sector.

He also found that there was no evidence that a regulatory impact assessment had been conducted on the regulatory amendment.

“The regulations are inconsistent with Section 40 of the Crops Act, which requires the Cabinet Secretary, when making regulations, to do so in consultation with the Agriculture and Food Authority and county governments,” indicates the press release.

In the coffee sector, the government has sought to help farmers get details about the price of their coffee in the market, reduce waste from processing and milling, and see them access the Cherry Revolving Fund as well. of 3 billion shillings.

With this in mind, the government has launched reforms in the sector to address the areas of data management, access to agricultural inputs, access to affordable credit, corporate governance, processing and marketing.