The government is set to sell all the maize donated by Japan at below market prices, dashing farmers’ hopes of quick recovery from seasonal glut. Above, trucks deliver maize at an NCPB depot.
The government is set to sell all the maize donated by Japan at below market prices, dashing farmers’ hopes of quick recovery from seasonal glut.
The maize packed in 538,642 -50kg bags and released under Japan’s Programme for Food Aid Project will be sold to the public at Sh750 each by the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCBP).
This translates to a total of 299,246 – 90kg bags of maize being sold at Sh1, 350 each at a time that farmers are contesting an even higher Sh1,800 per bag that the Agriculture ministry set last month. Prof Gideon Misoi, the NCPB managing director said millers, agro-processors and other consumers have up to Monday next week to place orders.
“The maize will be collected by the buyer at NCPB depots in Shimanzi and Changamwe within two weeks of making the payment,” Prof Misoi said. The announcement did not go down well with farmers who are holding bumper harvests from the previous seasons.
Prices had earlier fallen to levels below Sh1,000 per 90kg bag in the run up to the September/October harvests following two consecutive seasons of good rains that significantly improved agricultural output.
The cereals board, the buyer of last resort and the State agency charged with stabilising grain prices, has stopped direct purchases of grains in favour of warehouse receipting system that allows farmers to keep their produce at its facilities until prices stabilise in the market.
In the North Rift, farmers on Monday protested at plans by the government to offload Japanese maize into the local market before buying their harvests.
Kenya Farmers Association director Kipkorir Menjo said this would adversely affect prices. Mr Menjo who teamed up with Kenya National Federation of Agricultural Producers’s officials Musa Barno and William Kimosong said the small-scale farmers have been isolated in the on going structural reforms at NCPB which now demands at least 110 bags to participate in the warehouse system
Agriculture PS Romano Kiome could not be reached for comment but ministry officials speaking off record said the Japanese maize was donated on condition that the government sell it at a cheaper price.
Prof Misoi said the board was still pursuing its plan of buying maize from farmers at Sh500 million in the current season. “The government has indicated to us that it will be releasing more funds for the purchase of maize from farmers,” he added.
Millers endorsed the government’s decision to sell maize at lower rates but warned against the dual pricing.
“We see nothing wrong with selling the donated maize at Sh1,350 because this is the current price at which farmers are selling to the millers; the Sh1, 800 was set but has not yet been implemented,” said Ms Paloma Fernandes, Executive Officer at Cereals Millers Association.
Additional reporting by Kennedy Lumwamu.
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