The Kenyan government has accepted to lift the ban it had imposed on Ugandan poultry products including chicken and eggs.
Earlier this year, Kenyan banned the importation of poultry products including chicken and eggs from within and beyond East Africa saying it needed to protect and support its producers recover from the disruptions occasioned by the Covid pandemic.
Kenya has on top of poultry products also banned beef, milk and maize from Uganda rendering her neighbor in the West to lose billions in foreign exchange.
Earlier this month, cabinet approved a move that would see Uganda retaliate by imposing a ban on a number of Kenyan products.
However, on Tuesday, both governments held "successful trade talks" held in Nairobi.
The Ugandan delegation was led by Frank Tumwebaze, the Minister for Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries while Peter Munya, Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Cooperatives led the Kenyan side.
In a joint communique released shortly after the meeting, it was agreed that for the benefit of both countries, the bans imposed are lifted.
"The ministers noted that there have been disruptions in trade in poultry and poultry products between the two countries. Both parties agreed to immediately remove any administrative measures that have hitherto inhibited trade in poultry and poultry products," the joint communique read in part.
The meeting follows a recent outburst by Ugandan poultry farmers who accused the Ministry of Agriculture of not coming to their help in the eyes of the ban on Ugandan poultry products by Kenya.
"The biggest area of trade in Uganda is agriculture and to say the poultry industry. Kenya provides 70% of the market for our poultry products whereas only 20% is consumed locally and the rest is exported to South Sudan and DRC and by imposing a ban, we are at a total loss," said Charles Jagwe, a poultry farmer with over 80,000 birds.
The dealers in poultry products under their umbrella association, the Poultry Association of Uganda said they are counting losses since the ban was imposed, having injected a lot of money into the business.
Other products
The Tuesday meeting in Nairobi also discussed ban that had been imposed on other Ugandan products especially milk.
"The ministers took note of the ongoing trade in milk and milk products and agreed that Kenya undertakes a verification exercise of Uganda's dairy sector in the last week of January 2022," the joint communique read in part.
The meeting also discussed the circumstances under which Kenyan fish destined for DRC was recently impounded by Ugandan authorities.
It was agreed to establish a team of key stakeholders including revenue and fisheries to work out a transit mechanism for fish from Lake Turkana in Kenya to DRC through Uganda but also work jointly to address the issue of harvesting immature fish from Lake Victoria.
