• The Bills include the Coffee Bill, Fibre Crops Development Authority Bill, Food Crops Development Bill, Horticulture Crops Authority Bill, and the Miraa, Pyrethrum and Industrial Crops Bill, 2020.
• The group said some Bills proposed roles that are already taken by state agencies in the Ministry of Agriculture.
Image: DOUGLAS OKIDDY
A group of civil society organisations in the agriculture sector has raised concerns about the duplication of roles in five Bills sponsored by the government.
The Bills include the Coffee Bill, Fibre Crops Development Authority Bill, Food Crops Development Bill, Horticulture Crops Authority Bill, and the Miraa, Pyrethrum and Industrial Crops Bill, 2020.
Led by Daniel Maingi, an expert on agriculture policies, the group said some Bills proposed roles that are already taken by state agencies in the Ministry of Agriculture. Others seek to take over functions run by the national and county governments.
Maingi spoke on Wednesday during a stakeholders' meeting to review five agriculture commodity Bills.
The civil society groups that raised concerns include PELUM, BIBA Kenya, Caritas Meru, Seeds Savers Network, Building Eastern Africa Community Network among others.
For example, Maingi said, the Horticulture Crops Authority Bill proposes that the Horticulture Crops Development Authority carries out disease surveillance of horticulture crops. That function is already being done by the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Services.
“We should not be duplicating functions that are being carried out by other agencies or bodies within the same ministry. This will be a financial burden to the taxpayer,” he said.
“The national government should also stick to policy formulation and reserve the functions of implementation to the county government for them to be effective.”
Mary Irungu, advocacy officer PELUM-Kenya, said there is evidence in duplication and conflicting roles.
"The government should first evaluate the existing regulations and identify their impact and gap before developing more bills. Farmers should be the ultimate beneficiaries of the regulations," she said.
On October 15, Agriculture CS Peter Munya released five agricultural reform bills for public discussion for a period of 21 days.
Munya said the bills are aimed at revamping crops in the various value chains in order to benefit farmers who have suffered for many years.
Maingi said that Bills are creating other authorities and yet the objective that led to the establishment of the Agriculture and Food Authority under the Crops Act 2013 have not been achieved.
“The Crop Act 2013 and AFA Act 2013 were rushed bills that now seem almost impossible to implement so it important to ensure we fully engage all players in the sector for the better good of the farmer,” he said.
The group urged the government to listen to the voice of reason from the Council of Governors and civil society to sort out the problems that were created through the Crops and AFA Acts.
Governors and senators on October 23 rejected the agricultural reforms and accused Munya of snubbing the county governments in their formulation.
The senators said they will not consider any bills concerning county governments developed without proper and meaningful consultation.