Kirinyaga Senator James Kamau Murango has introduced the RICE BILL 2023, which states that a person shall not carry out the rice growing business without registration.
Farmers must not mill or process without a license. Contravention attracts a fine not exceeding Ksh. 1 million or twice the value of rice or imprisonment not exceeding 2 years, or both.
Nominated MP Sabina Chege also proposed a bill to establish a horticultural crop authority to license dealers and regulate production. Who is the author of these draconian bills?
County governments will soon have absolute powers to determine persons or entities that will carry out business in the rice farming value chain if Parliament approves a law to regulate the sector.
The Rice Bill 2023 seeks to give governors the power to, among other things, implement national government policy and regulation and facilitate access to players and resources in the rice industry.
The proposed law, which Kirinyaga senator James Murango sponsors, calls for establishing the Kenya Rice Board, whose role will be to regulate and promote the development of the rice industry.
The board will also be responsible for coordinating individual and organisational activities within the industry and facilitating equitable access to its benefits and resources.
The task will also include conducting research and facilitating study dissemination to interested parties.
Effective extension services monitoring of the domestic market will accomplish this, with the aim of identifying and advising the government and those interested in any distortions in the rice market.
The board will also be empowered to regulate, control, market, import, and export rice and its by-products, as well as facilitate arbitration of disputes.
“The rice industry has suffered from various administrative inefficiencies within the National Cereals and Produce. This has contributed to the exploitation of farmers by middlemen, increased rice production costs, and widening the gap between the locally produced rice and the annual national consumption,” says Senator Murango.
The proposed law comes when the agricultural sector faces many challenges, such as increased production costs, a lack of agricultural extension services, and limited data, particularly in sectors like rice farming.
