Kenyans growing green grams (ndengu) without a license could face severe penalties under a new proposal recently introduced in Parliament.
Under the Mung Beans Bill 2022, individuals are prohibited from marketing, processing, or engaging in large-scale trading of mung beans or mung bean products without first acquiring a license from the appropriate county government.
“A person shall not market, process or carry out large scale trading in mung beans or mung beans products unless the person has obtained a licence from the relevant county government,” the bill notes.
“A person who contravenes the provisions of subsection (1) commits an offence and is liable, on conviction, to a fine not exceeding one million shillings or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to both,” it states.
If the bill is passed and enacted into law, the Cabinet Secretary for Agriculture will be required to develop and implement a detailed National Mung Bean Policy within six months to foster the growth and advancement of the mung bean industry in Kenya.
The bill stipulates that the Agriculture and Food Authority will maintain the overall register of all growers, buyers, and other registered or licensed entities.
The bill hence proposes that each grower must register with the county executive committee (CEC) member responsible for agriculture, who will then maintain a register of all mung bean growers within their county.
“Every grower shall register with the relevant county executive committee member. Each county executive committee member shall maintain a register of all mung bean growers registered in the respective county,” the Bill read in part.
The register will document the grower’s name, the location and size of the land parcel used for mung bean cultivation, and the specific variety of mung bean grown.
Additionally each CEC member will be tasked with setting up a county licensing committee, comprising a chairperson, a representative from the mung bean growers in the county, and three public officers from the Agriculture Department with relevant agricultural expertise.
If the proposed policy is enacted, county governments will empowered to pass laws defining the requirements for farmers to be registered as mung bean growers within their counties.
