The Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) has embarked on a screening excersise of the country’s seed sector targeting to eliminate unfair trade practices.
According to CAK Director General David Kemei, the study which is expected to take three months targets to ensure farmers and industry players are protected against uncompetitive practices.
“We have started the process and we have even issued a gazette notice to say we will be studying that sector. It is work in progress and it will take us 2-3 months and we will be back on the table to look at the results,” said Kemei.
Speaking on the sidelines of the two days Agriculture Summit which ended on Thursday, Kemei said the screening excersise is being conducted as the sector is the base of food sustainability in the country and to ensure farmers’ income is secured.
Data by Kilimo Nexus Publication indicates that Kenya’s commercial seed sector was valued at Ksh 50 billion in 2021 with an average annual growth rate of 10pc. The sector is also majorly dominated by multinationals.
“We are looking to ensure we don’t have restrictive trade practices like companies companies coming together to fix prices,” said Kemei.
“Because regulation is about evidence-based decision making we carry out market screening in the sectors like agriculture and also do market studies to get information of what really goes on in there and then we intervene according to what we get.”
Earlier, CAK conducted market screening for fertilizer which Kemei said was successful leading to corrective measures by industry players as required by law.
“If we find out that there are companies which are acting actually in a cartel manner, we take steps. We investigate further and then present evidence to them and tell them to desist and adopt fair competitive prices. If we get that policies that we have in the sector contribute to uncompetitive issues in the sector, we escalate that to the national government so that changes can be made,” Kemei added.
CAK says it is also pushing for amendment that allows it to regulate e-commerce sector in Kenya including those selling agricultural products.
