President Uhuru Kenyatta has issued two executive orders on reforms in the coffee and tea sub-sectors.
The Executive Orders were issued Friday by the Head of State at State House, Nairobi at a brief ceremony conducted by the Head of Public Service Joseph Kinyua and attended by the Interior CS Fred Matiang'i, Peter Munya (Agriculture), and Mutahi Kagwe (Health).
Executive Order No. 2 of 2021 on the Coffee Sub-Sector Reforms follows recommendations of the presidential taskforce, and approves the transmittal of the Coffee Bill, 2021 to Parliament.
The president said that the enactment of the Crops Act, 2013 and the Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Authority (AFFA) Act, 2013led to the take-over of the functions of the Coffee Board of Kenya by the Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA).
He said that by dint of the two Acts of Parliament, the functions of the Coffee Board of Kenya became embedded into the AFA under its Coffee Directorate.
Uhuru said that the Agriculture, Fisheries, and FoodAuthority (AFFA) has become institutionally unfocused and unable to improve either the performance of the coffee sub-sector or those of the specific crop value chains.
"THAT arising from the wide scope of the mandate of the scheduled crops under its purview, AFA has become institutionally unfocused and unable to improve either the performance of the coffee sub-sector or those of the specific crop value chains."
The Attorney-General is directed to transmit the Bill to parliament for consideration by the August House.
On the other hand, Executive Order No. 3 of 2021 on the Revitalisation of the Tea Sub-Sector directs the Attorney General to conduct an inquiry into allegations of statutory and regulatory breaches committed by KTDA among other instructions.
The president said that tea is Kenya’s third-largest foreign exchange earner, with the sector providing a livelihood to 620,000 smallholder farmers and also supporting over 6 million people.
He said that setting tea prices in Kenya remains an opaque and exclusionary process that is sharply dissimilar from the process in other comparative jurisdictions.
"In view of the fact that the returns to farmers continue to decline, there is compelling urgency for the corporate democratic control of KTDA and its affiliatesto be realigned in favour of small-holder farmers."
