| dc.description.abstract | In recent times, Kenyans have awoken to newspaper headlines of the following nature:
'New Horticultural rules hurting smallholders. '
'EU's rules slow growth in horticultural exports' 'EU rules could destroy horticulture'
'Kenya has until January to comply with new rules'
By merely glancing at the above newspaper headlines, one realizes that an important sector of the Kenyan economy, the horticultural sector is in a crisis. A crisis that no doubt needs to be urgently resolved if the sector is to survive. It is the message that these newspaper articles carry that has invoked in me a desire to delve deeper and inquire as to the history behind the crisis. This study is therefore an inquiry touching on access to markets of Kenya's agricultural products, with a case study on the horticultural sector. Though the sector is beset with a myriad of challenges, the study focuses on the challenges arising as a result of quality requirements for the protection of human, animal and plant health, commonly known as Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) measures.
Chapter one is concerned with an analysis of the problem statement. Chapter two defines market access and sanitary and phytosanitary standards. On the other hand, chapter three concerns itself with an analysis of international and domestic legal instruments that have
, been enacted to regulate issues touching on SPS measures. In Chapter four, the horticultural sector has been critically analysed with the key highlight being the challenges farmers face in their bid to comply with SPS standards, Chapter five is an inquiry as to whether there is any link between the standards laws discussed in chapter three and market access of horticultural products. We conclude in this Chapter that indeed such a link does exist. We also find that various shortcomings in Kenya's standards laws impede their efficacy in enhancing market access of agricultural products. The concluding remarks are made in Chapter six where we conclude that indeed law can act as a tool to enhance market access of Kenya's agricultural products. However, for Kenya's standards laws to so act, there is need for policy, legal and institutional reforms followed by strict enforcement of the enacted laws. | en_US |
