Background

The Cotton

The first legal instrument to regulate the Cotton Industry in Kenya was the Cotton Lint and Seed Marketing Act of 1955 which formed the Cotton Lint and Seed Marketing Board whose main function was to purchase both lint and seed from the ginners and advise the Minister of Agriculture on the prices to be paid by ginners to growers. This act was repealed by the Cotton Act, Cap 335 in 1990 and established the Cotton Board of Kenya as a State Corporation under the Ministry of Agriculture. The Cotton Act was amended in 2006 to create Cotton Development Authority under section 3.

The Sisal

The first legal instrument to govern the production of sisal was the Sisal Industry Act, 1946 (No. 77 of 1946) which established the Sisal Board of Kenya. This Act made provision for the promotion and control of the sisal industry . In 1951 the Sisal Industry (Sale of Sisal and Collection of Cess) Rules, were made under the Sisal Industry Act Cap 341 to regulate some aspects of the sale of sisal or sisal fibre. As per these rules, no sisal or sisal fibre produced within Kenya was to be sold except through an agent duly licensed under section 7 of the Act and the Board was, from time to time, would prescribe conditions to a licence and determine the prices that should be paid for sisal and sisal fibre.

Establishment of the Fibre Crops Directorate

In 2014, the Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA) was established under Section 3 of the Agriculture and Food Authority following the operationalization of the Crops Act 2013 that repealed the Acts Cotton Act, Cap 335 Cap 335 in 1990 and Sisal Industry Act, 1946 (No. 77 of 1946) the of parliament. Subsequently the Fibre Crops Directorate was established and assumed the functions of the Sisal Board of Kenya and Cotton Development Authority. To date, the regulatory, development and promotion mandate of the fibre value chains is under the AFA-Fibre Crops Directorate.