Farmers dry maize in Eldoret. NCPB buys maize with 13.5 per cent moisture content. PHOTO | FILE
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Some brokers argue that they incur high charges in drying grain to the required moisture content, hence the reason for paying farmers low prices.
Entrepreneurs operating private dryers in the North Rift are raking in profits as farmers rush in to dry their maize and cut on post–harvest losses amid heavy rains.
Commercial dryers are charging Sh32 per drop of moisture in a 90 kilogramme bag of maize as the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB), which charges Sh28, is still waiting for funds from the government to begin buying this season’s crop.
NCPB buys maize with moisture content of 13.5 per cent, any crop beyond this is dried up again. Heavy rain has been pounding the region, hampering the drying process. Dryer owners are taking advantage of the high moisture content in maize to overcharge farmers.
“I would have loved to hold onto my grain for a little longer and wait for better prices, but because I do not have good storage I am forced to sell it out to avoid losses,” said Mr Fredrick Muhorela, a farmer based in Trans-Nzoia.
Some brokers argue that they incur high charges in drying grain to the required moisture content, hence the reason for paying farmers low prices.
Stopped harvesting
A 90 kilogramme bag of maize is now sold at as low as Sh1,500 from Sh2,000 last month and Sh3,800 in May. The falling maize price has come as a reprieve to households which have been enjoying a drop in the price of flour.
The price of a two kilogramme packet of flour has dropped by Sh12 in the last three months, a move which helped ease inflation to 6.6 last month from 8.36 in August. Cases of post-harvest losses are likely to rise in the region due to the heavy rains.
The move is likely to jeopardise food security in the country, coming against a backdrop of a viral disease which has affected about 15 per cent of the crop in the country, according to the Ministry of Agriculture.
The country loses up to 30 per cent of the crop annually due to poor handling as most farmers still lack proper storage facilities.
Small scale holders, who do not have finances to seek drying services, will bear the brunt of the bad weather which has forced some growers to stop harvesting.
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