A worker carries a sack of potatoes outside Kongowea Market in Mombasa. PHOTO | KEVIN ODIT
Farmers and traders across the country will be required to package their farm produce in sacks not exceeding 50kg, if President Uhuru Kenyatta signs into law a new Bill passed by Parliament on Wednesday.
The approval of the Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2015 through its third reading in Parliament effectively handed potato, maize, rice and wheat farmers the much needed reprieve from exploitation by traders and middlemen.
Farmers have been forced to package their maize, wheat and rice crop in sacks of 90kg while potato farmers have been packaging the produce in bags exceeding 120kg.
The Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Authority (AFFA) published new regulations in November 2014 asking farmers and traders not to pack produce in bags exceeding 50kg.
The regulations have been challenged in court. If the new Bill becomes law, it will give legal backing to the packaging rule that has been welcomed by farmers and opposed by traders lamenting that it will hurt their business.
If the law takes effect, brokers who used to buy potatoes in 150-kg bags, maize, rice, wheat and beans at 90kg bags will face fines of up to Sh200,000 or a jail term not exceeding 12 months or both for failing comply with the rules.
MPs approved the Bill sponsored by Moiben MP Silas Tiren, which also caps the maximum agricultural weight to be transported by an adult at not more than 50kgs.
A similar law barring traders from packaging and transporting potatoes in sacks exceeding 50kgs was suspended by the High Court in September last year.
The law was shelved by after potato traders appealed to a Meru court against the implementation of the law.
The traders asked the court to consider an affidavit sworn by Meru County Traders Association who argued the county government did not consult farmers and traders before implementing the regulations.
Counties had moved to erect weighing centres on the routes used to take potatoes to the markets before the law was suspended.
With enforcement of the new law, all those involved in the supply of produce like maize and potatoes will only be allowed to buy or sell in 50-kg bags.
This is in line with the provisions of section 42 of the Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Authority Act 2013 and section 37 of the Crops Act 2013. “If this law is fully implemented, agricultural farm producers...are likely to get better value for their investments,” said Mr Tiren.
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