TRADE AND AGRICULTURE


Table 1: Trends in Agricultural earnings for the past 10 years Commodities


Fish and fish preparations Maize (raw)


Meals and fours of wheat Horticulture


Coffee, unroasted Tea


Tobacco and tobacco manufacturers


Hides and skins Sisal


Pyrethrum extract Leather


Textile yarn Grand total Growth rate


Average growth


1999 2000 2001 2267 2953 488 423


33 201 155


3858 18


2002 2003 4205 4010 1693 125 32


6


2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 4178 4607 3971 4117 5131 246 289 1


3


360 563 473 17


19 95


17,641 21,216 19,846 28,334 36,485 39,541 44,707 48,813 56,808 71,182 12,029 11,707 7,460 6,541 6,286 6,944 9,061 9,138 10,425 10,126 33,065 35,150 34,485 34,376 33,005 36,072 42,372 47,349 46,754 63,812


1554 311


636 656 501 303


2167 494 606 704 486 713


2887 635 728 993 576 518


3454 2982 445


551


792 906 798 813 601 483


1018 394


2951 5137 956 866 1119 943 1115


1182 1122 1611


7869 8532 9053 622 143 40 1248 1389 1495 1086 127


- 1971 3036 3313 349 1052 712 594 551


69,874 76,430 72,159 81,756 86,581 94,415 112,009 123,156 132,507 165,271 9.38% -5.59% 13.30% 5.90% 9.05% 18.63% 9.95% 7.59% 24.73%


10.33% Source: Economic survey reports: 1999-2009


allows input subsidies for low income, resource-poor producers.


• De-Minimis: Kenya alongside other developing countries has no final bound AMS. Kenya however is exempted from the reduction of de-minimis.


• Blue Box: Blue box subsidies are directly linked to acreage or animal numbers. They are payment programmes that are common in the European Union and the United States. Kenya, being a net food importer, fully supports this proposal as it gives the country the opportunity to schedule product-specific blue box entitlement and flexibilities.


• Green Box: Kenya supports the inclusion of additional


programmes in the green box subsidies aimed at improving agricultural production.


• Cotton Exports: Kenya supports elimination of export subsidies by a date earlier than 2013, and it supports technical and financial assistance and the provision of a safety net against cotton export losses arising from fluctuations in international prices. This is likely to revive Kenya’s cotton subsector.


Market access Kenya has supported a higher range of tariff cuts of up to 54 per cent for developed nations to enhance market access. The country does not intend to designate any products as


46 | The Parliamentarian | 2010: Issue Three - Kenya


sensitive. But it lobbies for sensitive products to be linked to preference erosion, where members are given an opportunity to determine their own list of sensitive products and enter bilateral agreements. The Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration allows developing countries to self-designate special products based on rural development, food and livelihood security. Kenya hopes to enjoy an exemption from tariff cuts for a large number of agricultural products that affect the above. Kenya’s position is that all agricultural products should have access to special safeguard mechanism (SSM). The mandate on tropical products states that liberalization will encourage higher tariff reductions. This means that


Kenya’s horticulture produce will receive preferential treatment. Kenya supports the tariff escalation model to include processed products faced with tariff increases in the country’s major export markets.


Export subsidies Kenya advocates that all forms of export subsidies be eliminated by 2013, half by this year. It fully supports 360-day repayment period for less developed countries and net food importing developing countries. In exceptional circumstances 540 days as these provides Kenya with special and differential treatment. But the challenge is defining the terms and conditions for acceptable financing, the limit on the


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