Kenya's Phytosanitary Capacity Evaluation Stakeholders' Consultations successfully held

Kenyan stakeholders discuss phytosanitary capacity development strategy on January 18, 2018 at KEPHIS headquarters, in Nairobi, Kenya © Pamela Kipyab, 2018

The Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS), the National Plant Protection Organisation of Kenya conducted a stakeholders consultative workshop of the Phytosanitary Capacity Evaluation (PCE) application process on January 18, 2018. Advices to facilitate this event were provided from the distance by Chiluba Mwape who was trained as a PCE facilitator in the framework of the IPPC/STDF project 401. The workshop was held at the KEPHIS Headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya and officially opened by the Managing Director Dr. Esther Kimani. In her welcoming remarks, Dr Kimani informed the stakeholders that the purpose of undertaking the PCE was to gauge the strength and the gaps of the phytosanitary system of Kenya, and what needs to be done to improve the systems. The process is implemented through a consensus driven and confidential process amongst relevant stakeholders both public and private to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the phytosanitary system.

As the globalization of markets continues its growing pace and is shaped by technological developments, more and more governments are carefully reconsidering the overall arrangement of their national phytosanitary systems. This is coming about because enterprises in developing economies face daunting challenges in accessing regional and global markets because they cannot meet the international best practices for phytosanitary requirements to prevent the introduction and spread of plant pests.

The workshop participants included representatives from International Institute for Tropical Agriculture, University of Nairobi, Office of the Attorney General, Kenya Flowers Council and other organizations. Dr Kimani encouraged the workshop participants to provide comments on the selected PCE modules for the improvement of the national phytosanitary system.