The Kenyan Cabinet today endorsed the classification and designation of Bamboo as a scheduled crop under the Crop Act (No. 16 of 2013). The Cabinet says this is in order to foster the commercialization of Bamboo plants, and as part of the Administration’s Greening Campaign, which seeks to achieve a minimum ten-percent (10%) tree cover by the end of the year 2020 in addition to creating employment through agroforestry.
Crops falling under this category enjoy various advantages over others. For purposes of promoting of the production, processing, marketing, and distribution of crops in suitable areas the Act introduces, among other things, the following measures:
(a) reduction and circumvention of unnecessary regulatory bureaucracy in the crops subsector;
(b) reduction of unnecessary levies, taxes or other barriers to free movement of crop products and provide for a rationalized taxation system;
(c) promotion of competitiveness in the crops subsector and development of diversified crop products and market outlets; and
(d) attracting and promoting private investment in crop agriculture.
The Cabinet also in securing the market of Kenyan produce abroad, considered and approved the Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Agriculture and the Associazione Caffé Trieste-Italy noting that it sought to enhance market access for Kenyan Coffee in Italy through a robust partnership for promoting coffee in the Italian market. Cabinet also noted that the move would provide a platform for similar engagements within the other European Union (EU) countries.
