This archive report was first published on 20 May 2020.
On May 20, 2020, the Kenyan government announced a series of reforms aimed at addressing the challenges facing the country's agricultural production and trade sector. The reforms, which were announced by Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Peter Munya, include the establishment of a Warehouse Receipt Council.
The Warehouse Receipt System (WRS) will now be an open trading platform that links buyers and sellers, modeled along the lines of a stock exchange. This move is expected to reduce the logistics burden and facilitate producers and traders to access agricultural credit against the deposit certificate.
According to Munya, the Warehouse Receipting Council has been appointed, and the council will soon be inaugurated. The council will be responsible for overseeing the trading of warehouses in the Commodity Exchange (KoMEX).
Other reforms announced by Munya include enhanced private sector participation in the agricultural value chain, including storage. This is expected to create a competitive food market and improve efficiency. Additionally, the government will revamp the food Balance Sheet Committee to oversee accounting and monitoring of the country's food supply pattern, utilization, and distribution.
The government will also institutionalize reforms to eliminate overlapping roles, conflicts between different government agencies, and better respond to changing food demand. To spearhead the implementation of these reforms, Munya has appointed a Technical Working Committee charged with coordinating prompt and focused implementation.
The committee will ensure that systems are in place to receive produce in the next four months by October 2020. To encourage early participation of the private sector, the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) will release 7 million bags of space through competitive commercial leases. The release of designated storage space to the private sector will proceed speedily and be completed by December 2020.
CS Munya also announced plans to invigorate the NCPB Board and inject the required expertise for overseeing the revamped functions of NCPB. He directed the Technical Committee and NCPB Board to immediately undertake capacity and suitability vetting of all serving officers.
Soon, the government will undertake a policy legal review towards the harmonization of mandates of various agencies under the agriculture sector towards enhancing their complementarity. From September this year, the Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA) in collaboration with the counties will undertake the registration of farmers, dealers, and the licensing of primary warehouses.
