The cereals industry is in doubt since 10 million bags of duty-free imported maize will be available to consumers the next week.
However, farmers in the North Rift region, the country’s food basket, are sitting on millions of dollars’ worth of supplies from the previous season’s crop, so the arrival of the maize will come at an inopportune time.
To the relief of consumers who have been battling the high cost of flour, the Agriculture Ministry yesterday reaffirmed that the 900,000 tonnes, or 10 million bags, of maize will be supplied to the market as scheduled to address the acute scarcity of the staple.
Principal secretary at the State Department of Crop Development, Mr. Kello Harsama, said licensed traders are expected to bring in the maize to enable the country to have sufficient stockpiles and minimize shortages caused by dropped output owing to drought.
In a phone call, Mr. Harsama confirmed that the release of duty-free maize will continue as planned to address a shortage of the commodity.
The Ministry of Agriculture has authorized the import of 900,000 metric tons of white maize and 600,000 metric tons of milled maize by traders from February to August of this year, without payment of any import duties.
The government will be able to maintain sufficient reserves until the following crop in July and August of 2023 thanks to this. The State Department for Crop Development announced in a notification that millers and traders could import white maize and milled rice duty-free until August 6, 2023.
Since duty-free imports of maize and rice would begin in February, President William Ruto had previously urged farmers to unload their stock at the present price of more than Sh5,000 per 90-kilogram bag.
More than 3.5 million Kenyans are at risk of famine due to an emergency food crisis caused by crop failure due to drought, but Mr. Harsama yesterday requested licensed traders to bring in the maize to address the shortfall of the staple.
“The release of the imported duty-free maize will go on to satisfy the need,” Mr. Harsama said, explaining that a severe drought during the previous planting season had reduced yields.
Low national supply
The National Drought Management Authority reports that 31 counties are suffering from severe food insecurity and are in need of emergency aid.
On average, the country produces 30–40 million bags per year, with the remaining 10–15 million being purchased on the regional market (from countries like the EAC and Comesa).
The number of bags of maize harvested in 2020 was 42,1 million, down from 44 million in 2019. The country has produced an annual average of 2.8 million tonnes of maize flour over the past five years.
In the past five years, Kenya has imported an average of 295,092 metric tons of maize every year, as reported by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics.
Annual agricultural data indicate that Rift Valley yields have been on a downward trend, with production falling from 27 million bags to 21 million in the most recent growing season.
Parts of the North Rift region are still in the midst of maize harvesting, with estimates putting national production at 30 million bags against annual consumption of around 45 million bags.
Approximately 2.5 million additional bags of maize will be released to the market from the 4.5 million bag harvest expected in Uasin Gishu County.
The county of Trans Nzoia, Kenya, produced an estimated 5.3 million bags of maize, while its residents used up just about 2 million bags.
We have ample corn supplies following bumper harvest this season and steps have been put in place to minimize post-harvest losses,” said Phanice Khatundi, the county executive in charge of agriculture, in a previous interview.
Abuse of Farmworkers
Fearing the release of duty-free corn, she condemned the exploitation of farmers by intermediaries who had swarmed to the area to buy the goods at throwaway prices.
There is still a need to safeguard farmers from being exploited by intermediaries, as Ms. Katundi pointed out, as some of them are still harvesting the crop.
Since imported maize is scheduled to hit local markets as soon as next week, farmers in the North Rift region, the country’s food basket, are selling quickly to avoid losses.
As thousands of disappointed farmers release their wheat onto the market, the price has decreased from Sh5,800 to Sh4,800.
Consumers can breathe a sigh of relief now that the manufacturing price of maize flour has dropped from Sh2,080 to Sh1,950.
Due to farmers selling their crop in a state of panic, con artists have been able to steal corn from them. The unscrupulous merchants have flooded the markets and are purchasing the grains with bouncing checks, while others are purchasing the goods on credit and then suddenly closing their businesses without paying the farmers.
Governor Jonathan Bii of Uasin Gishu County and other local authorities have warned farmers not to sell their goods to scammers and to wait to deliver goods until they have been paid.
“Unscrupulous merchants have caused a great deal of emotional distress for numerous farmers by stealing millions of dollars’ worth of crops. We will not tolerate the problem of fraudsters issuing farmers with checks that bounce or disappearing without a trace, as stated by the administrator.
Because they anticipate financial losses, farmers have pleaded with the government to maintain the current import ban.
