Legal and Policy Framework 

 ABS legislation has advanced under Kenya’s environment statutes. In 2025 NEMA issued two new Legal Notices (“Access to Biological Resources and Benefit Sharing Regulations, 2025” – LN 19/2025 and LN 68/2025) under the Environmental Management and Coordination Act -new.kenyalaw.org.
These regulations (superseding the 2006 EMCA ABS rules) establish NEMA as the Competent National Authority for ABS, require researchers to obtain access permits (with Prior Informed Consent and Material Transfer Agreements with national and local providers and mandate that each permit be linked to a fair benefit-sharing agreement

The regulations explicitly require that benefit-sharing agreements be based on mutually agreed terms and provide both monetary and non-monetary benefits 
For example, Reg. 23 states that “benefit sharing shall include both monetary and non-monetary benefits” (fees, royalties, trust fund payments, IP sharing, etc., plus training, technology transfer, and co‐authorship)

A public register of permits is also mandated and all permits must be uploaded to the CBD’s ABS Clearing-House as certificates of compliance

Kenya has additionally enacted related laws (e.g. the Seeds and Plant Varieties Act, and the Traditional Knowledge and Cultural Expressions Act of 2016) and constitutional provisions (Art. 11) that recognize community rights over genetic resources

In practice, research access also requires NACOSTI clearance and, for exports, permits from KWS or KEPHIS as appropriate. An ABS Technical Committee (multi-agency) supports NEMA, and county governments (e.g. Kilifi, Kwale) are now being looped into the PIC/MAT process as providers of traditional knowledge (see case below)kefri.org
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Institutional Arrangements and Implementation

The National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) is the designated ABS implementation Authority. The Ministry of Environment (State Dept. of Environment & Forestry) is Kenya’s Nagoya focal points and oversees policy. Key agencies include NACOSTI (science permits), Kenya Wildlife Service (wildlife exports), KEBS/KEPHIS (plant/animal product export), and research institutions (NMK, KEMRI, universities). In its 2019 Nagoya Protocol report, Kenya noted that its existing ABS regulations (from 2006) “were developed before Nagoya” and must be updated to align with the Protocol

The 2025 regulations address many of those gaps. NEMA has also developed an online Access Permit Portal (https://abs.nema.go.ke) to streamline applications. As of early 2025 Kenya reports using 10+ “checkpoints” (e.g. NACOSTI, KALRO, Department of Veterinary Services, Kenya Forest Service, etc.) for enforcing ABS compliance, and is mapping additional checkpoints for the Nagoya Protocol

Case Studies of ABS Agreements

   Endorois Community (Lake Bogoria): One high-profile example is the Lake Bogoria microbial enzyme case. A Danish firm (Novozymes) had used an enzyme from a Lake Bogoria bacterium; in 2014, after negotiations by KWS, the local Baringo County/Endorois community received KES 2.3 million (≈USD 26,000) in royalties
  
  Part of the funds were earmarked for local school bursaries and development projects  
   . (Notably, this was Kenya’s first Nagoya‐Protocol royalty payment.)

   Waata Community (Gede, Kilifi): The coastal Waata (hunter-gatherer) community contributed indigenous knowledge on using Abrus precatorius (“mturi‐turi”) seeds as a natural contraceptive. Researchers from KEMRI/NMK engaged the Waata through county governments (Kilifi and Kwale) and signed Prior Informed Consent agreements with the counties. The seeds are now being scientifically tested (in primates) as a contraceptive, under a benefit-sharing arrangement. This ongoing project illustrates local PIC/MAT in action   kefri.org
 The Waata have emphasized fair sharing of any future benefits (e.g. royalties, joint IP) and have been endorsed as partners in the research, reflecting growing community involvement   kefri.org
 

Indigenous Fruit Research (Coast): In another recent case, researchers (University of Marburg, GE and Kenyan partners) studied fermentation of indigenous fruits. They signed an ABS agreement with KWS and local institutions that included wide-ranging benefits: sharing research results and co-authorship, capacity-building (equipment and infrastructure donated to a Kenyan lab), study exchanges for Kenyan students, and community training on value-creation from the fruits
This example shows how benefit-sharing can involve both scientific and local community gains (training, technology transfer, awareness raising)   -nagoyaprotocol-hub.de
Nagoya Protocol Implementation Status

Kenya ratified the Nagoya Protocol in April 2014. Its 2019 Nagoya Report (posted on the ABS Clearing-House) indicates that existing ABS laws have been reviewed and new regulations are being adopted

Key implementation points include:

   Permits Issued: Kenya has issued on the order of 130 access permits for genetic resources since Nagoya’s entry into force ABS Clearing House
 
 These are mostly scientific research permits granted by NEMA (often linked to NACOSTI research licenses). Export or transfer of materials requires Material Transfer Agreements and export permits from relevant authorities.

 ABS Clearing-House Records: Kenya has deposited its permits to the CBD’s ABS Clearing-House as evidence of granted PIC/MAT. (The Clearing-House entries reflect the new EMCA ABS regulations and show NEMA as the issuing authority.) 

   Benefit-Sharing Outcomes:  Monetary benefits collected (fees, up-front payments, royalties, training support) totalled about US$ 171,407 through permits to date
  Non-monetary benefits have included technology transfer (e.g. lab equipment and training of Kenyan researchers at Masters/PhD level)
  
 infrastructure support and joint research results. (Kenya reported no cases yet where traditional knowledge alone was accessed without a formal permit.) In practice, negotiated benefits have often taken the form of community development funds, capacity-building, and academic collaboration.

   Compliance and Checkpoints: The regulations provide for compliance measures: permit conditions include deposit of voucher specimens, quarterly progress reports to NEMA, and mandatory final reports

  NEMA is building capacity for enforcement.  ABS provisions are now embedded in Kenyan law (“enshrined within existing ABS domestic measures 

Future efforts focus on better monitoring (e.g. involving Kenya’s biodiversity databases) and on implementing ABS “checkpoints” at points of export/import to verify legal compliance, as required by Nagoya.

The CBD ABS Clearing-House (https://absch.cbd.int) maintains Kenya’s Nagoya reports and any published agreements. NEMA’s Biodiversity/ABS portal (https://abs.nema.go.ke and https://www.nema.go.ke) provides application forms and guidelines. For example, the public Kenya Gazette (Legal Notice 19/2025) and NEMA publications outline current ABS procedures

Sources: Kenya’s official laws and gazette notices (Kenyalaw.org), NEMA publications, and CBD ABS Clearing-House records were consulted. Case details are drawn from published reports and news (e.g. CIPIT/Strathmore blog on Lake Bogoria