Farmers reject plan to privatise country's sole supplier of seeds

Farmers from parts of Rift Valley, Nyanza and Western regions have opposed the privatisation of the Kenya Seed Company.

The farmers fear the proposed move would compromise their access to seeds, the country’s seed sovereignty and food security.

Speaking in Nakuru during a traditional food fare, the group vowed to reject the privatisation bid. 

Farmers might not access quality seeds once the company is privatised because the new owners would focus on profit making, hence increasing the prices.

“Government is the only entity that can offer subsidies to farmers. We have been buying seeds at very affordable prices from KSC, a situation that might change once the company is privatised,” Francis Ngiri, a member of Makongeni Farmers Network in Nakuru, said.

He wondered what would happen to the country’s food security if the company was bought by a foreigner, who might set it up in another country or even close it down.

Ngiri claimed there was an ill motive to forcefully introduce Genetically Modified Organisms seeds to farmers.

The plan to privatise KSC comes less than a year after the government allowed GMO in the country.

His sentiments were echoed by Jeniffer Adoyo, a smallholder farmer from Kakamega.

She said the company should not be privatised because it plays a vital role in the country’s food and nutrition security, adding that a two kilogramme packet of maize seed, which costs between Sh500 and Sh700, might sell at double the price once KSC is sold.

Adoyo warned the government against privatising the seed company without subjecting the matter to public participation and giving farmers a chance to present their views.

The government is the majority shareholder of the company at 52.88 per cent, while the remaining 42.12 per cent is owned by individuals and private organisations.

The company was established during the colonial times in 1956 and is among 11 state corporations earmarked for privatisation.

Others are Kenya Pipeline Company, Kenya Literature Bureau, Kenyatta International Convention Centre, New Kenya Cooperative Creameries, and National Oil Company of Kenya.

Also approved for privatisation are Rivatex East Africa Limited, Numerical Machining Complex and Kenya Vehicle Manufacturers Limited.

Seed Savers Network Programme Officer in charge of Western Kenya, Mercy Ambani said farmers’ insights would not be considered once KSC was handed to a private entity.

“Farmers might lose their free will to save their indigenous seeds because the new management might seek the enforcement of Seed and Plant Varieties Act, which bars farmers from selling unregistered seeds,” she said.

KSC was not monopolistic when under government ownership, which might change once it is handed over to profit-oriented proprietors.

One of the outcomes, Ambani said, is high-yielding cultivars that satisfy consumer demand may be given priority by private organisations.

Cultivars are plant varieties that are produced by selective breeding. 

This could limit the supply of unique, regionally specialised seeds that are vital to the sustainability of regional agriculture.

“Another possible outcome is the full introduction of GMOs, as private businesses might be more willing to invest in genetically modified seed technologies in an effort to increase productivity,” she said.

The change may have an impact on biodiversity, ecological balance and conventional farming methods in the agricultural sector.

Ambani said small-scale farmers within the Network petitioned the government against the proposal under Article 37 of the Constitution and Article 19 Section 1(b) of the UN Declaration on the rights of the peasants.

“A country cannot privatise its military because it's a matter of national security and the same goes with seed which forms the basis of food,” read part of the petition.

Among key issues mentioned in the petition are loss of seed and food sovereignty, flooding of fake seeds in the market and loss of support offered by KSC to small-scale farmers.

Similarly, privatisation would expose citizens to scrupulous profit-oriented seed companies at the expense of farmers’ welfare and create insecurity as seed and food can be used as a weapon of war.

In a bid to counter capitalism, Seed Savers Network Kenya has started a project that is enhancing community-led activism against privatisation for social economic development.

Commercially viable seeds may take precedence over traditional or regionally adapted varieties, which are important parts of farmer-managed seed systems.