Farmers and prospective exporters who would like to export their agricultural produce to the international markets can apply for licenses by writing to the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service, whose responsibility is to assure the quality of agricultural produce from Kenya meet international standards.

A prospective exporter or farmer can do so by writing a letter to the Managing Director, KEPHIS accompanied by his/her company’s registration certificate, the Horticultural Crops Directorate license, Kenya Revenue Authority PIN certificate and copies of identification documents of directors.

The application goes together with a signed agreement if sourcing from authorized exporters, a signed agreement with growers (if you have any) and details of the location of the farm, crops under production, acreage and market destination.

Upon application, KEPHIS will then audit it within 10 working days.

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Snap peas ready for export. Courtesy

For growers of perishable agricultural products, the procedures for farmer recruitment, pest management, safety and hygiene of produce, calibration of spray equipment and sprayers, traceability and waste disposal policies.

The verification of documented policies and procedures will cover contracted farmers, own farms and suppliers.

In this, the areas to be checked include the schedules for planting, weeding, fertilizer application, harvesting and cleaning of crates, quality control management systems and storage facilities and records.

For dealers in fresh fruits and vegetables, a sample of produce is required for submission for pesticide residue laboratory analysis at the KEPHIS lab after a successful field audit.

Dealers of dried or processed agricultural products are required to provide document policies for audit including quality control management, good handling practices, sanitation and general housekeeping, worker health & hygiene and pest control programme.

After this, electronic certification system training is done for all companies.

Upon successful system audit and ECS training the company shall be notified in writing and registered into the ECS (Electronic Certification System).

In this, you will visit the Kephis website, c lick on online services and chose the option of Electronic Certification System (ECS) then c lick on Electronic Certification System at the end of the page. Apply for client registration. You shall then wait to be given a password for the system to be able to log in as a client.

Kenya’s horticulture earnings earned the country Sh56.23bn in the first four months of 2018 up from Sh40.57bn in a similar period last year according to the latest data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics.

In this, flower exports recorded a 40.41 per cent increase in sales to Sh42.59n up from Sh30.33n in 2017 while fruits and vegetables earned Sh4.98bn and 9.26bn respectively.

The Horticultural Directorate reports that the industry is the fastest growing sub sector in agriculture in Kenya and has been buoyed by compliance with export market requirements by the European Union, Kenya’s major destination of cut flowers accounting for 38 per cent of the total market share.

The whole registration process costs Sh15,000.

KEPHIS can be reached on +254 709 891 000.