Kenyan mung bean farmers will require licenses from the Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA) if the proposed Bill is enacted into law.

The Mung Beans Bill 2022, seeking to promote growth and development of the mung bean industry, proposes that every grower shall register with the relevant county executive committee (CEC) member in charge of agriculture, with each CEC member required to maintain a register of all mung bean growers in their respective counties.

“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 shall include details of the name of the grower, the location, size, and parcel number of the land on which the mung bean is grown, as well as the variety of mung bean grown.

According to the Bill tabled before parliament, buyers of mung beans will not be allowed to market, process, or engage in extensive trade of the produce or its byproducts without first obtaining a license from the 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. 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 noted.

Each county executive committee member will further be required to establish a county licensing committee consisting of the chairperson, one representative of mung bean growers in each county, as well as three public officers in the Agriculture Department with relevant experience in matters relating to agriculture.

If the proposed policy is passed into law, county governments will enact legislation outlining the requirements for farmers to be registered as mung bean growers within the county.