Kenyan Farmers To Pay KSh 500k Fine For Providing Animal Rearing Services Without Licence, New Bill

• The bill proposes a fine of up to KSh 500,000, a six-month imprisonment term, or both for service providers without a licence
• The bill defines animal production as the care and maintenance of farm animals for subsistence, commercial, and cultural pursuits
• Kenyans must submit their licence requests to the Animal Production Professionals Board and undergo an approval process

Elijah Ntongai, a journalist at TUKO.co.ke, leverages more than three years of expertise in financial, business, and technology research, providing profound insights into both Kenyan and global economic trends.

Individuals in Kenya who engage in animal farming services without a license could soon face penalties, including a possible fine of up to KSh 500,000, a six-month imprisonment term, or both.

These new measures have been proposed in the framework of the Animal Production Professionals and Technicians Bill 2023.

The primary objective of this proposed legislation is to institute comprehensive provisions for the training, registration, and licensing of animal production professionals, technicians, specialists, as well as firms involved in this sector.

What is animal keeping?

The bill aims to establish guidelines governing the standards and conduct within the animal production profession, defining animal production as the care and maintenance of farm animals for subsistence, commercial, and cultural pursuits.

“Animal production” means the science and art of applied technology, innovations and management practices to the keeping of farm animals for subsistence, commercial and social cultural purposes," states the bill.

Prohibitions

According to the proposed bill, no individual may engage in animal production services or represent themselves, directly or indirectly, as an animal production professional or technician, nor pursue such employment unless duly registered and licensed under the proposed act.

Furthermore, organisations or firms offering animal production services must hold registration licensing by the board, and have registered animal production professionals, technicians, or specialists overseeing these services.

Penalties

"Any person who carries out animal production services without having been registered under this Act, or otherwise contravenes any provisions of this Part, commits an offence and shall be liable, on conviction, to a fine not exceeding five hundred thousand shillings or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or to both," reads the bill.

Application for the licence

Applicants in Kenya must submit their license requests to the Animal Production Professionals Board and undergo an approval process after payment of the specified fee within a designated timeframe.

Validity of the license

The license will be valid from January 1 to December 31 of the respective year, during which the board retains the authority to suspend the license for various reasons, such as the provision of false information in the application.

Government sets minimum price for milk

In other news related to animal products, the government allocated KSh 1.5 billion to New KCC for the purchase of excess milk from farmers.

Cabinet Secretary for Cooperatives and Micro, Small, and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs), Simon Chelugui, announced that the New KCC will purchase milk directly from farmers at a minimum rate of KSh 45 per litre to cushion them from exploitation by middlemen and other stakeholders in the sector.

"We seek to protect dairy farming like any other businesses in the country. The minimum price of buying milk is fair and enables farmers to earn good returns despite the high cost of operation," Chelugui said.