Både landbrugsproduktionen og mad på bordet er i fare hos titusinder af småbønder i Kenya – for nu skal de til at betale moms af stort set alt, hvad de behøver for at drive deres små jordlodder.
NAIROBI, 4 September 2012 (IRIN): Reintroducing VAT (moms) on farm inputs, many of which are already priced beyond the reach of most Kenyan small-scale farmers, could undermine agricultural production and threaten food security, experts and farmers say.
Fertilizers, insecticides (insektgifte), pesticides (plantegifte) and farm machinery have been zero-rated (uden moms) for the past five years, but would once again be taxed at 16 percent if the Value Added Tax Bill is passed in its current form.
“The government should support us by ensuring farm inputs are affordable so that we can be able to feed ourselves and other Kenyans,” Titus Buto, a small-scale farmer and member of the Cereal Growers Association, told IRIN.
“But if they want to tax what farmers use in the farms, people will go hungry. What we produce now is not enough and we should look at producing more”, added he.
While fertilizer is available at government stores at the subsidized price of 2.500 Kenya shillings (ca.180 DKR ) per 50 kg bag, the vast majority of farmers only have access to private retail outlets where the cost is almost double.
In mid-2012, an estimated 1,3 million farmers lacked even maize seeds to plant due to drought and high cost.
Food security
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http://www.irinnews.org/Report/96241/KENYA-Looming-tax-break-loss-alarms-farmers
