Newly approved standards targeting MSMEs unveiled
Trade CS Betty Maina.
The Trade and Industrialisation ministry has urged the Kenya Bureau of Standards, (KEBS), to assist SMEs to obtain certification of their goods and products.
Outgoing Cabinet Secretary, Betty Maina, said that lack of certification has affected the competitiveness of innovative products by the SMEs.
“We need to come up with standards which are responsive to the needs and aspirations of local MSMEs. Let there be connectivity between the standards made and user MSMEs,” she said when she officiated at this year’s World Standards Day celebrations.
During the event, 474 newly approved standards to accelerate achievement of UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) in Kenya were unveiled.
Part of the new standards will target small scale farmers, and will focus mainly on maintaining the genetic diversity of seeds, cultivated plants and farmed as well as domesticated animals and their related wild species.
This will contribute to the realisation of SDG 2, which aims to achieve zero hunger through doubling of agricultural productivity. The standards will also facilitate adoption of measures that will ensure the proper functioning of food commodity markets and their derivatives.
One of the standards being reviewed is on edible oils and fats, specifically olive oil, KS 1789:2022 which seeks to ensure trade of olive oil is well facilitated and safe. This standard provides technical guidance and minimum specifications that must be met for the product to be released in the market.
The new standards will also focus on the development of smart cities to create sustainable communities that enjoy things such as safe and affordable housing, as well as adequate career and business opportunities.
“To make cities sustainable means that we will have to build on resilient societies and economies by creating career and business opportunities, as well as safe and affordable housing. This process will also involve investment in public transport, creation of green public spaces, and improvement of urban planning and management in participatory and inclusive ways,” noted Mr Njiraini.
