For many years, farmers have pushed in vain for their milk to be paid based on quality as opposed to quantity. Well, while a majority of the processors are reluctant to implement the model, one has taken the new path, heralding good times for farmers in the New Year and beyond. Happy Cow, a milk processing firm in Nakuru, is pioneering a system that is paying farmers based on quality, rather than quantity for every produce delivered.The company is working with two smallholder dairy cooperatives, namely the New Ngorika Milk Producers Limited and Olenguruone Dairy Farmers Coop-erative Society, which collect the milk from farmers at Sh37 per litre. Producing high quality milk is earning the farmers more as the company uses a system called Quality Based Milk Pay-ment (QBMP) to reward them. How the system works Quality of milk delivered is tracked from the 50-litre can delivered to indi-vidual farmers (5 to 7) based on results of a laboratory analysis. The lab results are used by the firm to plan targeted extension services that the farmer needs to improve and maintain quality. Farmers participating in the sys-tem have to label and own their cans. The can number is used to track quality and trace the source of the milk. Cans qualify for bonus every month and to continually be awarded the bonus is an important mission that requires a lot of attention and effort by both the farmers and the extension team. Happy Cow is working closely with SNV Kenya,...

Tanzania's President John Magufuli (left) and his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame jointly opened the Rusumo one-stop-border- post on April 6, 2016 to improve trade between the two countries. PHOTO | CYRIL NDEGEYA  The East African Community is working with agencies such as TradeMark Africa to ease the movement of labour and capital and cross-border business. The Community has initiated projects focused on creating market access, enhanced trade environment and competitiveness. In 2016, 10 of the 13 one-stop border posts were completed and are operational under the integrated border management arrangement. These are the Holili-Taveta, Mirama Hills-Kagitumba, Kobero-Kabanga, Busia-Busia, and Mutukula-Mutukula posts. According to the TMA, the OSBPs have significantly reduced the time spent at the borders. “There has also been efficient movement of goods on the Northern Corridor and linkages to the Mirama Hills-Kagitumba OSBP with construction of the Ntungamo and Port Reitz roads,” said TMA chief executive officer Frank Matsaert. There was a 50 per cent reduction in Customs transaction time as a result of the upgraded Automated System For Customs Data,  the electronic cargo tracking system and the Authorised Economic Operator Scheme, and the electronic single window system. This reduction translates into reduced cost of doing business. For Rwanda, the electronic single window saw clearance times fall from 11 days to one day 10 hours, saving businesses $6.8 million in 2013 alone. Uganda Revenue Authority’s Electronic Cargo Tracking & Customs Management System saw a 75 per cent reduction in transit and clearance times, saving traders $56 million annually. The EAC Single Customs Territory also improved transit times to...

According to energy cabinet secretary Charles Keter, The first export of oil from Kenya through the port of Mombasa is now expected for April 2017. Source: KTN

The Kenya TradeNetwork System for application of local marine cargo insur-ance is up and running, the Kenya Trade Network Agency has said. The state agency mandated to facilitate the new government initiative yesterday said importers and insurance firms can now process marine covers online, under the government’s new policy for mandatory local underwriting for all imports. e new law, which came into effect on January 1, requires imports to be covered locally, under section 20 of the Insurance Act, Cap 487.“ e KenTrade system is up and running,” head of corporate communi-cations Ann Odero said yesterday. She said KenTrade is working with other industry stakeholders including State department for Maritime and Ship-ping Aff airs, Kenya Revenue Authority and the Association of Kenya Insurers to implement the rule.Marine Cargo Insurance policy pro-vides indemnity against loss or damage for goods being transported by sea or air and incidental land transportationFirst time users of the system are required to get access credentials by contacting KenTrade to procure the marine cover insurance certifi cate from their preferred Insurance Company. is process will be done outside the National Electronic Single Window System, KenTrade said yesterday.“ Upon issuance of the MCI ,the trader, insurance company will be required to submit to KRA and any other partner government agencies the certificate through the Kenya TradeNet System,” Odero said. e application through KenTrade is intended to allow KRA and other government agencies to view the marine cargo insurance certificate electronically in the course of cargo clearance. The Shippers...

The proposed reduction of the Tourism ministry budget by Treasury will hurt the country’s tourism sector which is on a recovery path, CS Najib Balala has warned. Treasury CS Henry Rotich in a mini budget tabled at the National Assembly in December 2016, has proposed a cut on the tourism promotion budget by Sh1.5 billion, as he seeks to reduce the government’s expenditure for the financial year 2016/17 by Sh181 billion. Balala has however retaliated saying the reduction will hard hit structures set for recovery, which include marketing campaigns by the Kenya Tourism Board in the international markets. “The proposed budget cuts will drastically affect the tourism industry but like most sectors affected, we have to go back to the drawing board and re-strategise in order to reverse the effects,” Balala said in an interview with the Star. Rotich allocated Sh4.5 billion for tourism promotion activities in the current financial year which ends in June. Also to be affected, Balala said the Sh1.2 billion charter incentive programme launched in December 2015. “We will definitely need to review the allocation for the charter incentive programme,” Balala said. The Treasury is seeking to cut development spending by Sh213.5 billion for the current financial year. Balala said there is a need to open skies to low cost airlines in both Nairobi and Mombasa, as the charter incentive programme may have to be prolonged to 2018, owing to the budget cuts. “Charter airlines which comprise two per cent of the airline business are not...

Kenya’s exports to the region dropped by the largest margin in three years in the third quarter of last year, to $275.7 million from $380.3 million in the first nine months of 2015, new data shows.All countries in the region, with the exception of the Democratic Republic of Congo, cut their uptake of imports from Kenya, according to a report from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics. While the drop in exports has been attributed to encroachment in key market segments by Chinese products, local factors like taxation, new competing industries in export markets and instability in South Sudan have contributed to the trade down turn. Goods from China, some of dubious quality, have flooded the market, making the Asian giant the biggest exporter to the region.Kenya relies on Africa to absorb more than 40 per cent of its manufactured exports. The data shows a 30 per cent drop in exports to Uganda to $152.1 million in the period under review, from $228.18 million over the same period in 2015. “Africa remained the leading destination of the country’s exports, accounting for 40.6 per cent of the total during the review period. Within Africa, Uganda was the largest market for Kenya’s exports, accounting for 11.3 per cent of total export earnings, followed by Tanzania, which accounted for 5 per cent of total export earnings in the third quarter of 2016,” the report notes.Tanzania’s imports from Kenya dropped to $67.5 million in the third quarter of last year, from $78.2 million over...

Kenya’s exports to the region dropped by the largest margin in three years in the third quarter of last year, to $275.7 million from $380.3 million in the first nine months of 2015, new data shows.All countries in the region, with the exception of the Democratic Republic of Congo, cut their uptake of imports from Kenya, according to a report from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics. While the drop in exports has been attributed to encroachment in key market segments by Chinese products, local factors like taxation, new competing industries in export markets and instability in South Sudan have contributed to the trade down turn. Goods from China, some of dubious quality, have flooded the market, making the Asian giant the biggest exporter to the region. Kenya relies on Africa to absorb more than 40 per cent of its manufactured exports. The data shows a 30 per cent drop in exports to Uganda to $152.1 million in the period under review, from $228.18 million over the same period in 2015. “Africa remained the leading destination of the country’s exports, accounting for 40.6 per cent of the total during the review period. Within Africa, Uganda was the largest market for Kenya’s exports, accounting for 11.3 per cent of total export earnings, followed by Tanzania, which accounted for 5 per cent of total export earnings in the third quarter of 2016,” the report notes. Tanzania’s imports from Kenya dropped to $67.5 million in the third quarter of last year, from $78.2...

Ivory markets are set to shut down following the banning of the trade in the world’s biggest market, China, which is good news for the African elephant. Wildlife activists will be closely watching other Asian markets, led by Vietnam and Hong Kong, that have also provided the market for ivory. Last week, China’s State Council announced a ban on all ivory trade and processing activities in the country by the end of this year. This signals the implementation of President Xi Jinping’s joint commitment with US President Barack Obama, in 2015, to end the legal and illegal trade in ivory.The ban by China — with an estimated 70 per cent of the global consumption — will be done in stages; the processing and sale of ivory will stop by March 31, followed by all registered traders being phased out, bringing an end to the trade in the country by the end of the year. “There will be a stop in the ivory fixed-point processing unit or point-of-sale processing and sales of ivory and products activities by the end of the year,” the statement from the State Council, released last Friday, says. The news comes barely six months after Beijing announced it would push for the total ban on the ivory trade within its territory by the end of the year.Yan Xun, deputy general director of the country’s Department of Wildlife Conservation and Nature Reserve Management, had said that by the end of 2016 China would set a timetable to phase...

The New Year pressure from importers seeking to firm up their dollar positions in a bid to meet their requirements has seen all the regional currencies come under pressure, losing to the dollar. The Kenyan shilling recorded the biggest loss, touching a 15-month low of 103.60/80 against the dollar on Thursday, mainly due to a surge in demand by im-porters. The shilling last hit such lows in August 2015, when it traded at 103.90. The Central Bank of Kenya has recently been under pressure, spending $337 million in December alone to prop up the currency. Analysts from Cytonn Invest-ments say that despite the Kenya shilling remaining stable despite the 25 bps hike in the Federal Funds Rate last month, there has been a reduction in the country’s reserves, an indication the CBK has been using the funds to keep the currency stable.“On a year-to-date basis, the shilling is flat against the dol-lar. However, in recent weeks, we have seen the forex reserves reduce to $7 billion in December, from $7.8 in October 2016, which has led to the decline in the months of import cover below the one-year average of 4.9 months, and is currently at 4.60 months. This is worrying as the rate of de-crease in the reserves could be an indication that the CBK is using a lot of reserves to support the shil-ling, and may continue to do so in the near-term given the global strengthening of the dollar,” the Cytonn analysts said.Currently, the reserves stand at...

BURUNDI’S TAX revenues rose 8 per cent last year, exceeding the government’s target, the revenue board said on Wednesday. The semi-autonomous revenue authority (OBR) said it had collected 637.4 billion francs ($382.64 million) in tax, beating the govern-ment’s target of 596.2 billion francs and the 590.6 billion francs collected a year before. It did not give a reason for the increase. Government officials have in the past said tax revenues were boosted during the third and fourth quarters by improved security across the country.Burundi is relying on domestic taxes and revenues from coffee and tea exports after major donors like the European Union and Bel-gium suspended aid over accusations of seri-ous human rights abuses. The rift with donors was sparked by Presi-dent Pierre Nkurunziza’s decision to run for a third term of office and the subsequent vio-lence and protests.The government said in December it would increase 2017 public spending by 5.3 per cent from last year’s budget. The budget, estimated at 1.326 trillion francs ($796.49 million), will be 70.7 per cent funded by domestic resources and 29.9 per cent by external resources.Economic analysts predict 2017 will be very hard for Burundians, whose poor purchas-ing power is already weakened by almost two years of political turmoil since President Nku-runziza’s decision to run again in April 2015. Meanwhile, Burundi will increase public spending by 5.3 per cent this year, according to a budget passed in parliament last week.Last week, the budget passed by parliament showed state spending will increase to 1.326 trillion...