Deadline: 30th June, 2023
agriculture and food authority kenya coffee licences
CALL FOR FRESH APPLICATION FOR COFFEE LICENCES
Agriculture and food authority kenya call for application for coffee licences for qualified persons are now open.
The Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development while acknowledging that coffee is one of the most important crops contributing immensely to the GDP and foreign exchange earnings to the country, notes that coffee is a scheduled crop under the Crops Act 2013 and regulated by Agriculture and Food Authority, a government parastatal under the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development.
The Ministry has taken note of the many players participating in the coffee trade along the coffee value chain, the different roles they play from farm to cup and the challenges that coffee farmers face as a result of probable existing conflicts of interests amongst the various categories of value chain players. While it is noted that millers are licensed by the county government, brokers by the Capital Markets Authority and the buyers by the Agriculture and Food Authority-Coffee Directorate, it is regrettably noted that provisions of the Crops (Coffee) [General] Regulations, 2019 have not been adhered to in some cases by all the licensing authorities. All licenses issued by different authorities run for a period of twelve (12) months starting from 1st July to 30th June the succeeding year. Therefore, all existing licenses held by various coffee value chain players will expire on 30th June, 2023.
To this effect, and to streamline the licensing process to the provisions of the Regulations, the Cabinet Secretary for Agriculture and Livestock Development hereby now DIRECTS that all interested persons wishing to deal in coffee business MUST apply afresh for consideration by the relevant licensing authority before or on 30th June, 2023. Applicants are advised to apply and submit application in accordance to their licence category. Notice is also hereby given that a licensing authority shall not grant a licence to any applicant found to be in contravention of Section 11 (1) & [4] of the Crops (Coffee) (General) Regulations, 2019.
The relevant application forms which must be submitted together with a duly filled application questionnaire can be found in the Agriculture and Food Authority website www.agricultureauthority.go.ke or www.kilimo.go.ke