The Kenya Seed Company has put in place the necessary mechanisms to stop the proliferation of fake seeds in the market, Board chairperson Wangui Ngirici has said.
Ngirici said the multi-agency team formed early this year has continued to make key strides in its crackdown on unscrupulous traders involved in this illicit business in various parts of the country.
Speaking in Kirinyaga, Ngirici also urged farmers to remain vigilant and only purchase it from accredited dealers, assuring them that the country has enough certified seeds.
“We want to boost our food security and that will only be realised when we protect our farmers against these unscrupulous traders,” she said.
She noted that fake seeds have been a major threat to the country in achieving enough food and the government will deal ruthlessly with unlicensed dealers.
Early this year, the government announced it had arrested several suspects in connection with the sale of counterfeit seeds.
"We have said the time for crooks is over in this country and we are not relenting until we wipe them out. Some had even fled to the neighbouring countries but we managed to pursue and arrest them," Agriculture Principal Secretary Paul Ronoh said in a past event.
President William Ruto said Monday the country’s food production has significantly increased over the last two years.
He said Kenya currently has high national food stocks including 95 million 50kg bags of maize, nine million bags of beans, 10 million bags of wheat, and two million bags of rice.
Ruto attributed this to the distribution of over seven million bags of subsidised fertiliser to farmers among other measures in the sector.
“We are moving closer to sustainable food security and manageable cost of living,” he said during the 11th national and county government’s coordinating summit at State House.
According to the Head of State, they did not import any maize in 2023 and 2024 as compared to 2022 where they imported the grains worth Sh10 billion.