White- Collar Crime in Kenyan Agri- Food Markets: Violations of Agri- Food Safety Laws in the Agri- Food Chain

The Kenyan agricultural sector contributes approximately 34 per cent to Kenya’s GDP annually and accounts for 65 per cent of total exports and more than 75 per cent of rural employment (Kenya National Bureau of Statistics [KNBS], 2020). In terms of agricultural market participation, smallscale farmers account for 63 per cent of marketed farm produce in Kenya (Republic of Kenya, 2019a). In fact, small- scale farmers account for over 80 per cent of milk production, 70 per cent of maize farming, 70 per cent of beef production, 65 per cent of coffee production, and 50 per cent of tea farming (KNBS, 2019). Efforts (for example, development of agri- food safety policies such as the National Food Safety Policy 2021 (Republic of Kenya, 2021b) and the National Livestock Policy 2019 (Republic of Kenya, 2019b) have been made to ensure that Kenyans have access to safe and quality food as specified by Article 43 of the Constitution of Kenya (Republic of Kenya, 2010, p 31). However, creating a culture of compliance with agri-food safety regulations has remained a significant challenge within the Kenyan agricultural sector (Kutto et al, 2011; Odwar et al, 2014). Importantly, compliance with critical food safety regulations, especially in the marketing of contaminated farm produce, still exists (Republic of Kenya, 2019a).