Kenya has called for the alignment of commodity standards, trade rules and warehouse receipt systems across African markets in order to remove obstacles to cross-border trade, improve agricultural financing and enhance regional food security.
The government argues that a patchwork of regulatory regimes and differing quality criteria hampers the creation of integrated commodity markets, restricts the flow of agricultural produce and limits farmers’ access to credit.
Regina Ombam, Principal Secretary for Trade, said that closer collaboration among governments, regulators and private-sector actors is essential to expand market access and ease the movement of goods along regional trade corridors.
Speaking at the Regional Structured Trading Systems Policy, Market Integration, Peer Learning and Exchange Forum, Ombam warned that “Differences in standards, regulations and warehouse receipt systems can constrain cross-border commodity trade. Harmonising these frameworks will build trust, improve commodity quality assurance and enable warehouse receipts to support trade and access to finance across regional markets.”
The forum gathered representatives from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Namibia, Zambia and Rwanda to discuss ways of strengthening structured commodity trading, widening financing options and deepening market integration under the East African Community, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa and the African Continental Free Trade Area.
Central to the proposed reforms is the warehouse receipt system, which lets farmers and traders store produce in certified facilities and use the resulting receipts as collateral for loans, thereby avoiding immediate sales at low prices and reducing post-harvest losses.
Patrick Mbogo, chairman of the Warehouse Receipt System Council (WRSC), noted that Kenya has advanced its institutional and digital capacity, highlighting the launch of an electronic Warehouse Receipt System Central Registry on February 25, 2026 to improve receipt management, verification and transparency.
“These milestones demonstrate progress, but our priority must be to translate them into tangible benefits for farmers, cooperatives, traders, processors and financial institutions,” Mbogo said.
The council also reported that the Warehouse Receipt System Amendment Bill, 2026 has secured Cabinet approval and is now headed to Parliament, aiming to allow commodities from neighbouring countries to be stored in certified Kenyan warehouses and to broaden access to commodity-backed financing.
According to the council, successful regional integration will require stronger commodity standards, expanded certified storage capacity, tighter links between warehouses, lenders and buyers, and digital interoperability to enable reliable verification across borders.
