market

: 24 January 2019; Hits: 4869

Sugar farmers attack draft industry regulations as anti-constitutional and illegal on multiple counts

SUCAM, the sugar campaign for change advocacy group, today laid out multiple legal breaches within Kenya’s draft sugar regulations in an alert to the Ministry of Agriculture’s Sugar Industry Task Force of the need to be vigilant in observing Kenya’s constitution, trade agreements, and existing legal framework.

In one of multiple legal breaches, SUCAM drew attention to the requirement in the existing draft agreement that all farmers and millers be members of apex bodies in order to engage in sugar production.

“This requirement flies in the face of the “freedom to be members” of associations as spelt out in section 14 of the Crops Act as well as Article 36 (2) of the Constitution, which guarantees the right that “a person shall not be compelled to join an association of any kind”,” said Hon. Saulo Busolo SUCAM Chairman.

“To be clear, it is within the boundaries of the law to recommend that farmers join an association, but it is literally beyond the authority of the Ministry of Agriculture to dictate compulsory membership of any association,” said Saulo Busolo SUCAM Chairman.

“Yet these draft regulations encompass multiple such adventures into extended authority, anti-competition, and legislative breach.”

Sugar prices rise sharply as cane supply declines

Kakamega dairy law to relieve farmers from over-reliance on sugarcane farming

Sugarcane Farming in Kenya

A tractor picking sugarcane from a farm in the past. Courtesy

Under the Statutory Instruments Act, 2013, all regulation must be accompanied by a Regulatory Impact Statement that includes an explanation of the effect of the proposed legislation. Yet the draft sugar regulations, having used an alternative template instead of the legal template for an impact statement, failed to explain the effect of the regulations.

“Considering the deleterious effect that many of the proposed regulations are set to have, it may be no coincidence that the regulations further breach the statutory process in failing to lay out the effect of the rules,” said Saulo.

“But if the legislators are unable to explain the effects of the regulations, how did they determine that these were desirable rules to have? What were the criteria? We simply have no sight of what these regulations were designed to achieve.”

The Statutory Instruments Act, 2013 was also breached through the omission of any cost benefit analysis from the regulations and in the failure to examine any alternative means for securing the same (unstated) outcomes.

“All told, the draft that is now being reviewed appears to be a journey through breached process, breached constitution, and multiple breached acts and international agreements, all in pursuit of objectives that are neither identified or explained as the effects of the regulations,” said Saulo.

“This makes it imperative for the taskforce now reviewing these proposals to be vigilant in observing Kenyan and international law and in ensuring that their own recommendations comply with the aims and outcomes of the nation’s body of preceding legislation.”

Write comment (0 Comments)

: 24 January 2019; Hits: 32392

Rising demand for herbs and spices in local and international markets ignites the farming in Kenya

chia seeds Helitech

Packed chia seeds, a product of Helitech, a community based organisation in Lari Sub-County, Kiambu County. Prices of herbs and spices are all-time high in local and international markets due to their health and nutrition values. Photo courtesy.

The farming and trading in herbs and spices such as chives, mint, coriander, basil, rosemary and sage among others in Kenya is on the rise thanks to the hiked demand in both the local and international markets that has seen farmers and trades take the venture seriously than before.

According to the growers and dealers, some of these herbs had gone into extension as farmers turned to grains and cereals production. However, of late farmers are taking the venture back on realising its lucrative markets with stable market price as compared to other produce.

“Many growers in the country had left herbs to grow on their own in the bush despite their health and economic returns. But it is encouraging that the farmers are increasingly growing these plants to better their income,” said George Gathuri, herbs and spices value addition manager at Helitech, a community based organisation in Lari Sub-County, Kiambu County.

He says herbs prices do not fluctuate much in market like they do with other vegetables as most of them are sold directly to wholesalers, where the prices are constant and pretty standard through the year.

The CBO is currently supporting farmers in the area to grow the crops by giving them technical and financial support to buy seedlings and fertilisers among other farm inputs as a way of ensuring better planting materials and production.

The farmers grow chia, basil, fennel, fenugreek, thyme, rosemary, tarragon, mint and oregano among others which the CBO buys from them upon maturity and harvesting to produce powder, flaky, and some oils which they sell to various organic markets and hotels in Nairobi.

“We sell our products to ridgeways market, Pidium in Karen, Bridges Hotel, village open air markets and individuals who order for our products,” said Gathuri.

For bulk buyers, a kilo of any herb goes at Sh800 while others who buy in smaller quantities can spend up to Sh1,500 per kilo.

The CBO also advertise their products online through social media and farmer events such as field days with plans underway to form a sacco out of the CBO by June this year to enable them fully commercialise the venture.

“Operating under a CBO has been limiting our full potentials. We do not have our own machines to do value addition and instead we have been relying on support from the government agricultural institutions and Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT),” said Gathuri.

RELATED ARTICLE: Farmer tames blight with herbs

International markets

On the other hand, according to Mitos Herbs, a company which specialises in the cultivation of premium quality culinary herbs for export, there is lucrative markets in international markets that farmers can explore.

"Our largest market is the Netherlands but we also export to Germany, Russia, Uk where the demand for herbs is strong and Middle East where coriander probably has a good market,” said Innocent Bosire who works with the company.

The company grow chives, mint, coriander, basil, rosemary, sage, dill and French tarragon among others.

“The cut herbs are all shipped by air, with a shelf life of around a week, once they reach their destination,” said Bosire.

The herbs are sent directly to wholesalers, who then repack them and send them out to their different consumers and our offer depend on demand.

Gathuri can be reached on +254 701 179490 while Bosire on +254 717 305339

Write comment (0 Comments)

: 23 January 2019; Hits: 7163

Sugar cane farmers callout new zoning law that restricts market access

SUCAM, the sugar campaign for change advocacy group, today declared that the sugar zoning proposed in Kenya's draft Sugar Regulations, 2018 is an illegal and anti-competitive constraint that would require an express waiver by the Competition Authority.

The draft regulations, now under review by the Agriculture Ministry's Sugar Industry Taskforce, propose that sugar cane farmers be obliged to sell their produce to specific sugar mills, with a single buyer for each area dictated by regulation.

The proposed reintroduction of zoning has ignited memories among farmers - most especially in Mumias, SONY, Chemelil, Muhuroni and Nzoia - of the losses caused during the 1990s by the same policy. At that time, many farmers failed to harvest, while others delayed harvesting by up to four years. The zoning caused delayed payments, currently totaling to Sh2.6bn, and hit the development of ratoon crops. As a result, many farmers, especially in Mumias, abandoned cane farming and the poverty index soared in the sugarcane growing areas.

"Forcing farmers to sell to a single buyer, who will be the only miller they can sell to, offers no remaining scope for market forces," said Michael Arum, SUCAM Coordinator.

Kakamega farmer who abandoned cane farming for nuts has no regret

Government to vet and pay genuine cane farmers Sh2.6bn before Christmas

sugarcane tractor

Farmers will be forced to conform to the price set by their local enforced mill, which is a breach of the Competition Act that prohibits restrictive trade practices and anti-competitive agreements.

"For farmers in areas with poorly performing mills, any mill mismanagement will mean that their own livelihoods are ruined. They cannot seek other sellers, or better prices. In effect, they will simply work for a single mill, and without ever having signed a contract to do so, but by regulatory dictate."

The zoning law also is a breach of COMESA rules that prohibit the introduction of a contract, agreement or understanding that is anti-competitive or substantially lessens competition within the common market, said SUCAM.

"Imposing a single buyer contract on farmers will, in fact, drive many Kenyan farmers away from sugar production. It means farmers must produce without any possibility of selling their produce freely, versus switching to producing other crops entirely," said Hon Saulo Busolo SUCAM Chairman.

The proposed regulation also breaches the WTO Agreement on Agriculture, which encourages the use of domestic support policies to maintain the rural economy and increase market access and which do not distort trade or pricing.

The proposal that Kenya's sugar industry introduces zoning comes after similar policies have failed and been abandoned all over the world.

Worldwide, measures that span sugarcane zoning; the allotting of land to farmers for sugar growing based on sugarcane supply and demand; the allocation of supply areas; the enforcement of minimum distances between sugar mills; as well as reducing the number of sugar mills, have all failed in countries that include Australia, Pakistan, India and Mauritius.

"Moving sugar farmers out of entrepreneurship and business into a tied service to their local sugar mill is simply retrogressive and damaging," said Michael. "It is anti-competitive and would do our nation's sugar industry untold further damage."

Write comment (0 Comments)