Treasury faces Sh40bn food bill

The national maize stocks as at the beginning of August included, 178,000 tonnes held by National Cereal Produce Board (NCPB) of which 163,000 tonnes was Strategic Grain Reserve and 15,000 tonnes for relief food.

Some  230,000 tonnes was in the custody of farmers across the country, 78 per cent of it in Rift Valley, Western and Nyanza provinces. Another 92,000 tonnes was in the hands of traders and millers.

“Continued export bans in neighbouring countries of Tanzania and Uganda is likely to reduce cross border maize inflows by 46 per cent. The reduced levels of production and imports are likely to compound the tightening maize supply situation,” KFSSG said.

The assessment further revealed that high food prices have persisted throughout the country with average price of maize standing at 100-130 percent above normal.

“As a result, terms of trade for pastoralists, agro-pastoralists and marginal agriculture farmers and purchasing power of urban households have deteriorated significantly given that over 70 per cent of the population in Kenya is net buyers of maize,” the team stated.

KFSSG said the Sh40 billion budget would help offset some of the pressures through specific interventions across key sectors over the next six months.

The food sector got a Sh27 billion budgetary allocation for the provision of 398,000 tonnes of food rations for some 3.8 million drought-stricken people and another 1.5 million school going children by February next year.

But KFSSG now want the government to allocate additional Sh1.1 billion to the agriculture sector for the provision of drought tolerant seeds, promotion of drought tolerant crops, water harvesting and expansion of irrigation infrastructure for irrigated agriculture, construction of soil and water conservation structures and  seed bulking of drought tolerant crops.

In the livestock sector the steering group wants some Sh5.6 billion allocated to vaccinations, de-worming and disease surveillance programmes.

The group is also asking for about Sh544 million to bankroll the management of moderate and severe acute malnutrition, capacity strengthening, strengthen disease and nutrition surveillance, support and protect infant and young child feeding practices, provision of immunization services, provision and stocking of essential drugs.

The funds will also help scale up micro-nutrient supplementation, de-worming of school going children, procurement and distribution of long lasting insecticide treated nets.

In the water sector, the KFSSG wants some Sh653 million sunk into the purchase of water bowsers, provision of gensets, drilling and equipping of boreholes, provision of fuel subsidy, water trucking and construction and de-silting of water sources.

Other initiatives in this sector would include the construction of latrines and hygiene promotion, rehabilitation of water sources, provision of storage tanks, conversion of borehole pumping systems, promotion of rainwater harvesting and construction or rehabilitation of irrigation schemes.