Gatundu South Member of Parliament Moses Kuria has vowed to mobilize other legislators in the House to shut down a dairy regulation bill proposed by Kenya Dairy Board.
The MP argued that the regulation was insensitive to the needs of the farmers and was developed without any form of public participation.
Kuria through his Facebook posted on Friday, March 22, said the regulations intended to frustrate and undermine efforts of dairy farmers while benefiting a few processors.
As a representative of over 100,000 dairy farmers in my constituency and as a leader, I would like to assure all dairy farmers that parliament will not approve the dairy regulations issued by the Kenya Dairy Board.
The regulations are arbitrary, insensitive to the needs of the farmers and were developed without any form of public participation,” posted Kuria.
The legislator vowed to mobilize his colleagues representing dairy farmers to oppose the regulations until proper consultations were done.
He asked Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mwangi Kiunjuri to step up and hold a consultative meeting with stakeholders to ensure farmers interests were taken into consideration
CS Kiunjuri is now experienced in stakeholder engagement and should not have a problem applying those vital skills and experiences gained to the milk sector
According to the proposed regulations, dairy farmers would not be allowed to sell fresh milk to hawkers or their neighbors until it was pasteurized at farmgate or a cooling facility.
Farmers would also be required to strictly sell their milk to a single processor with whom he/she has a contract. This would ensure that health safety standards. But why would Kuria oppose such a good regulation which means good to the farmer and the consumer?
The regulation further stipulated that the price of the milk would be based on quality and not the quantity supplied as it is currently done. This would be solely determined by the processor. Farmers who would not comply with the regulations would be fined KSh 500,000