Demystifying the Quest for Devolved Governance of Agriculture in Kenya

Abstract

The promulgation of Kenya’s Constitution in 2010 portended a plethora of reforms key amongst them being; devolution of various sectors including agriculture. The devolved framework for agriculture is anchored in Part 2 of the Fourth Schedule, providing that the national government shall have exclusive responsibility of agricultural policy formulation whilst the county government shall facilitate, implement and oversee all other agricultural related matters including the implementation of national policies on agriculture. A key constitutional requirement is that both levels of government must observe and be guided by the principles of distinctiveness and interdependence encapsulated in Article 6 (2). Collectively, these principles echo the indicators of devolved governance which include the fact that even though both governments are autonomous institutions, they are interrelated and need to work together; especially when discharging their devolved functions including agriculture. In doing so, it is envisaged that both governments must discharge their functions on the basis of cooperation and consultation. Strikingly, Kenya’s Constitution largely lacks specific provisions to reinforce a robust regime for the implementation of devolved agriculture. Accordingly, the National Government enacted two key pieces of legislations namely; the Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Authority Act, 2013 and the Crops Act, 2013, as the blueprint for devolved agriculture. A cursory glance of the two pieces of legislation however reveal legislative impediments to the implementation of devolved agriculture. This paper therefore seeks to demystify the quest for devolved governance of agriculture in Kenya by generating indicators of devolved governance and thereon examining the extent to which they have been incorporated in the context of agriculture in Kenya.