The Council of Governors held a consultative meeting with the Ministry of Agriculture, USAID, Agriculture Sector Network (ASNET), AGRA and the Coffee Subsector Reforms Implementation Standing Committee (CSRISC) to deliberate on the emerging issues in the Agriculture sector and forge partnerships in the sector.
We note that the need for transforming Agriculture requires collaborative efforts between the two levels of Government, Development Partners and the Private Sector.
The Council has however noted with concern efforts through which policy and legislative reforms are being undertaken by the Ministry of Agriculture without consulting and concurrence of County Governments. This has resulted to development of pieces of legislation including: Tea Act, 2020, Coffee Bill, 2021, Fibre Crops Development Authority Bill, 2021 Nuts and Oil Crops Bill, 2021, Food Crops Industry Bill, 2021, the Horticultural Crops Authority Bill, 2020 and the Miraa, Pyrethrum and Other Industrial Crops Bill, 2021; some of which are in violation of the Constitution. In some instances we have two bills on the same crop for example the Coffee Bill 2020 and the Senate Coffee Bill 2021 which largely contradict each other.
These laws if passed in their current form will undermine devolution. The bills edge counties from participating in regulating these sub-sectors by assigning the development, regulation and promotion to the various boards established by the said bills.

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