Grading Standards – Sorghum

KOMEX uses the East African Grading Standards for Grains. The standards specify the requirements, sampling, and testing methods for Grains traded on KOMEX.

5 Grading Standards for Sorghum:

The specific requirements for sorghum grains of varieties (cultivars) grown from Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench intended for human consumption, i.e., ready for its intended use as human food, presented in packaged form or sold loose from the package directly to the consumer (It does not apply to other products derived from sorghum grains), are:

Characteristics			Maximum limits			Method of test
			Grade 1	Grade 2	Grade 3
Description			Grain sorghum of red, white or yellow varieties only
Moisture, max (%)			13	13	13	ISO 711/712
Test Weight Min (kg/hl)			71	62	62	ISO 605
Total Admixture Max (% by wt) (Total of foreign material, screenings and trash)			11.0	30.0	50.0
Foreign Material Max (% by wt)			2.0	3.0	4.0
Foreign matter, decorticated seed (% by wt)			0.5	0.5	0.5
Screenings Max (% by wt) (All matter passing through a 2.0 mm slotted screen – 40 shakes in the direction of the slots using an agitator)			11.0	25.0	50.0
Trash Max (% by wt)(Chaff and other sorghum Trash retained above a 2.0 mm slotted screen following the Screenings process)			5.0	13	13
Crude protein, % by dry mass basis, min			7.0	71	62	EAS 82
Ergot affected grains %m/m			0.05	11.0	30.0
Tannin content, % on dry mass basis, max.	Whole grains		0.5	2.0	3.0	ISO 9648
	Decorticated grains		0.3	0.5	0.5
Defective grains, max (% by count, 300 grain sample	Weather stained		5.0	11.0	25.0	ISO 605
	Field fungi		5.0	5.0	15.0
	Dry green		5.0	10.0	10.0
	Immature grain (Fully green in colour)		5.0	10.0	10.0
	Split/Broken		7.0	10.0	10.0
	Total defective		5.0	8.0	10.0
Small Foreign Seeds (% by weight)			1.6	1.6	1.6
Total Aflatoxin (AFB1+AFB2+AFG1 +AFG2)), ppb max			10			ISO 16050
Aflatoxin B1 only, ppb max			5
Fumonisin ppm max			2

Note:

- - Sampling shall be done in accordance with the EAS 79/ISO 13690.

Click on the link to download a comprehensive copy of The East African Grading Standards for Sorghum

Introduction

Agriculture and related activities are the main source of income and 60 percent of employment for over 80 percent of Kenyans. The sector accounts for more than half of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). The Government of Kenya (GoK) depends for about 45% of its revenue from this sector. Agriculture also makes up more than 50% of the country’s export earnings. Accordingly, the GoK has placed a great deal of importance and due attention to the development of agriculture in Kenya.

To address the growth and development challenges of the sector, the GoK has expressed a strong policy commitment to supporting the establishment of a public-private sector-led National Commodities Exchange (“the Exchange”). The Exchange will materially impact on the livelihoods of millions of Kenya’s smallholder producers and other actors, in both agricultural and non-agricultural commodity value chains, and the agricultural development led industrialization.

A transparent and efficient marketing system for key commodities in the country helped by the Exchange will have significant economic impact not only in terms of improving the export competitiveness of Kenyan commodities but also in stimulating domestic value addition and processing and other post-harvest activities. A marketing system that enables all actors to participate in a “level playing field” will further enable Kenya to achieve its goals of financial inclusion and support to less advantaged actors in the economy, particularly small-scale farmers and traders, largely operating in the informal economy.

A vibrant Exchange, powered by appropriate information and communications technology (ICT), will also strengthen the vision to place Kenya as an African, and potentially global, powerhouse in ICT. The Exchange shall be regulated by the Capital Markets Authority. A further ambition would be to ensure that a commodity exchange, while initially and primarily serving the needs of the Kenyan economy, evolves to potentially become a regional and continent-wide hub for the structured trading of commodities. The establishment of the Exchange in Kenya should finally be a private sector-led undertaking, with the concrete support and enabling environment provided by the public sector in various ways, such as policy and regulatory support, legal framework, and other measures.

The State Department of Trade, to lead the project for establishment of the Commodity Exchange in Kenya, has hired the Consultants to implement the framework of commodity exchange. A Task Force comprising representatives of relevant line ministries has been set up. It is thus envisaged that the Consultants will work on implementation of the Commodity Exchange in regular close interaction with the Taskforce.

Kenya Vision 2030is the country’s new development blueprint. It aims to transform Kenya into a new industrializing, “middle-income country providing a high quality life to all its citizens by the year 2030”. The adoption of the Vision by Kenya comes after the successful implementation of the Economic Recovery Strategy for Wealth and Employment Creation (ERS) which has seen the country’s economy back to rapid growth since 2002, when GDP grew from a low of 0.6% and rising gradually to 6.1% in 2006. The Vision 2030 is based on three “pillars”: the economic, the social and the political.