An Empirical Study of Regulatory Capture in Kenya’s Maize Seed Sector

K. Van Dycke Lodewijk Guido (), Mawia Harriet (), Rutsaert Pieter () and Donovan Jason ()
Additional contact information
K. Van Dycke Lodewijk Guido: Law and Development Research Group, University of Antwerp, Stadscampus – Gebouw V, S.V.122, Venusstraat 23, Antwerpen, 2000, Belgium
Mawia Harriet: Sustaintable Agrifood Systems Program, CIMMYT (Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maíz y Trigo/International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center), ICRAF (International Centre for Research in Agroforestry) House, United Nations Avenue, Gigiri, P.O. Box 1041 Village Market-00621, Nairobi, Kenya
Rutsaert Pieter: Sustaintable Agrifood Systems Program, CIMMYT (Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maíz y Trigo/International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center), ICRAF (International Centre for Research in Agroforestry) House, United Nations Avenue, Gigiri, P.O. Box 1041 Village Market-00621, Nairobi, Kenya
Donovan Jason: CIMMYT (Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maíz y Trigo/International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center), P.O. Box 041, C.A.P. Plaza Galerías, Colonia Verónica Anzures 11305, Ciudad de México, Mexico

The Law and Development Review, 2024, vol. 17, issue 1, 1-45

Abstract: In sub-Saharan Africa, public sector breeding programs depend on local seed companies to deliver new maize varieties to farmers. Such varieties are needed to adapt cropping systems to climate change. While dozens of small and medium seed companies have emerged in the last two decades, the maize seed market in Kenya remains dominated by the parastatal seed company Kenya Seed Company, with multinational seed companies making major inroads. We assess whether parastatal and multinational seed companies have captured Kenya’s seed laws to the detriment of local small and medium seed companies (‘regulatory capture’), negatively effecting competition and the capacity of local companies to introduce new varieties in the hybrid maize seed market. We conducted in-depth interviews based on legal clauses with maize seed companies active in Kenya, as well as interviews with regulators and stakeholders. Results show that local companies do not feel disadvantaged compared to their multinational counterparts or the parastatal. However, all of them are wary of the entry of new actors. Moreover, through excessive procedures, the Kenyan government keeps a sovereign grasp over the seed sector. Despite frustrations with some of these excessive procedures, seed companies felt comfortable in the protective environment of the Kenyan seed market and were generally happy with the technical aspects of Kenya’s seed laws, which are based on international norms. We suggest some improvements to make Kenyan seed laws more conducive to varietal turnover, in line with seed companies’ suggestions and taking into account the political sensitivities of the Kenyan government.

Keywords: seed laws; seed quality control; regulatory capture; Kenya; maize (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://doi.org/10.1515/ldr-2022-0073 (text/html)
For access to full text, subscription to the journal or payment for the individual article is required.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bpj:lawdev:v:17:y:2024:i:1:p:1-45:n:8

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.degruyter.com/journal/key/ldr/html

DOI: 10.1515/ldr-2022-0073

Access Statistics for this article

The Law and Development Review is currently edited by Yong-Shik Lee

More articles in The Law and Development Review from De Gruyter
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Peter Golla ().