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Kenya is developing a new policy to guide environment-friendly practices in its coffee and tea sectors as part of a global shift towards sustainable trade.
Investments, Trade, and Industry Cabinet Secretary Salim Mvurya said the country is developing a policy known as Green Supplement that would guide production and trade in key exports crops such as tea and coffee in trade blocs such as the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCTA).
“To this end, Kenya’s national AfCFTA implementation strategy acknowledges the importance of advancing sustainable development through initiatives that align trade and environmental goals. This alludes to implementing climate change adaptation and mitigation measures pertinent to trade, as well as protecting and conserving the natural environment,” he said an AfCFTA forum in Kigali on Wednesday.
“We are developing a Green Supplement, and once concluded, it will guide through providing opportunities for green intra-African trade and climate adaptation within the tea and coffee sectors in Kenya,” said Mvurya.
This comes amid growing global pressure for environmentally sustainable farming to help tackle threats posed by climate change.
Both consumers and retailers are now more conscious about produce that adheres to climate-friendly practices such as minimal water use.
For example, coffee farmers in Kenya are currently caught in a race against time to get certification that would cushion them from a new European Union (EU) market law that will ban sale of goods linked to the destruction of forests, a cause of climate change, starting January 2025.
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