By W, KNA
The Cabinet Secretary (CS) for Investments, Trade and Industry (MITI, Lee Kinyanjui, emphasizes the necessity of diversifying agricultural and food export bases, for regional growth and competitiveness in the global trade.
He said the government is committed to a unified regulatory environment that minimizes trade friction and promotes farmer-led growth.
In a speech read on his behalf by Michael Mandu, Ag. Secretary for Trade, during the Global G.A.P. tour stop 2025 meeting in Nairobi, the CS noted that only 10 to 12 percent of African trade is with African nations and when you compare with the 40 percent of North American trade with other North American trade, there is need to increase intra-African trade.
“The goal is to boost intra-African trade by 12-25percent within the next decade, to accelerate the continent’s growth,” Kinyanjui said,
Noting that increasing trade, not only promotes regional and continental integration, but also expands markets and boosts competition.
The Ministry is actively, promoting value addition through investments in Special Economic Zones (SEZ) and County Aggregation and Industrial Parks, to support agro-processing, (CAIPS), micro small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), and meet market standards.
“Our long-term goal is to move beyond primary commodities into semi-processed, processed, branded, and specialty food products, including organics, functional food, indigenous crops, in order to transition Kenya into a newly industrializing middle-income economy.
He noted the importance of the Global G.A.P. tour stop in Kenya, as a platform for advancing dialogue and a valuable opportunity to share knowledge and expertise that will help expand trade networks.
Trademark Africa’s Kenya Country Director, Lillian Mwai, said compliance is the currency of trust in agrifood trade, as it secures shelf space in European supermarkets, retail chains in Dubai, and wholesale markets across Africa.
“Without compliance every harvest faces the risk of rejection, and with rejection comes not just financial loss, but livelihoods on the line, especially in rural communities,” she said.
With compliance, she added that farmers gain stability, predictable orders, better prices, and the confidence to invest.
Furthermore, Mwai said there is a need for widening the product base in fresh produce, oils, pastes, and dried fruits, to be able to cushion producers from shocks.
“Overreliance on a few crops or buyers leaves farmers exposed to shocks, from pest outbreaks to sudden drops in demand, with the new markets opening, such as the AFCTA, which is offering 1.4 billion consumers and USD 3.4 trillion in GDP, even as demand grows in the Middle East for safe, traceable, and sustainably grown produce.
Robert Peck, Senior Operations Officer, International Finance Corporation (IFC), said that their financial support has enabled agribusinesses to invest in infrastructure and training for compliance, such as packhouses, cold storage, and digital traceability.
“These investments, in partnership with retailers and buyers, have connected smallholder-certified producers to export opportunities, creating jobs and increasing incomes,” he added.
Peck noted that Compliance is a catalyst for trade facilitation and collaborations have demonstrated that harmonized standards and streamlined procedures can cut costs and reduce post-harvest losses.
The Kenyan government currently has in place a traceability system dubbed “National Horticulture Traceability System (NHTS),” which ensures the quality standards of export produce and will monitor products from farm to market.
Kenya’s export compliance also focuses on mandatory product quality certification via the Pre-Export Verification of Conformity (PVoC) program.
GLOBALG.A.P. TOURSTOP 2025 is running for the next three days and being hosted in collaboration with Trademark Africa (TMA), as the main partner, GLOBALG.A.P., Rootooba, Absa Bank PLC Ltd, and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and is running under the theme “Driving the region’s agri-food trade through compliance and product diversification.”
