Trade Mark East  Africa (TMA) has  formally signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) worth Ksh.130 million with Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Services (KEPHIS).
The funding will also benefit Agriculture and Food Authority (AFFA) for automation support of their internal business processes.
The support to KEPHIS will be Ksh.45 million while AFFA will receive Ksh.85 million from the same donor.
The KEPHIS system will hasten the issuance of seed certificates to traders resulting in enhanced access to trade and market information where information availability and traceability is expected to improve.
The AFFA system will centralise existing information, improve efficiency and service delivery as well as facilitate effective regulatory processes in the agricultural sector.
Speaking on Thursday during the signing agreement at a Nairobi hotel, TMA Senior Director Trade Environment, Richard  Kamajugo said the funding will allow the two institutions to respond to challenges in production, value addition and streamlining of the agricultural supply chains.
The response, he added, will boost efficiency, transparency and predictability in the trading of agricultural produce and products.
“Eliminating these challenges will contribute to reduced costs along the value chain to guarantee higher earnings to farmers, improve food security for the country and also enable agriculture surpluses or new value chains to target export markets,” he added.
Kamajugo noted that TMA’s vision of increased agricultural produce and products trade will significantly contribute to its target of 10 percent increase in value of exports from the EAC region.
TMA is providing technical and financial support to both AFFA and KEPHIS to transform their manual platforms to automated platforms that will enhance efficiency and effectiveness of service delivery and create e-governance structures that are more transparent, accountable and predictable.
AFFA Director General, Alfred Busolo noted that the project will go a long way in ensuring efficient service delivery and facilitate ease of doing business for investors in agribusiness.
By  Wangari  Ndirangu