Economy

Maize flour price shoots past Sh100 as shortage hits millers

maize

A shopper compares the prices of the different brands of maize flour at a supermarket. PHOTO | FILE

The price of flour has crossed Sh100, with the cost expected to continue rising as a result of a maize shortage caused by high levels of poisonous aflatoxin in the produce combined with dwindling supplies in the market.

Flour prices retailed above Sh100 in October last year and the rise is likely to put inflationary pressure on majority of households which rely on the commodity as their staple food.

The price of a two kilogramme packet of Jogoo maize meal is retailing at Sh101 from Sh95 last week while Soko and Pembe are selling at Sh95 in supermarkets. Millers had earlier warned that the cost would rise in the coming weeks.

Millers have complained that a lot of maize coming in from eastern region from the short rain crop, which would have supplemented the available stocks in the market. is infested with aflatoxin, stopping them from purchasing it for flour making.

The chairman of the Cereal Millers Association (CMA) Nick Hutchinson says the level of aflatoxin in some of the grain has reached a high of 78 parts per billion, way above the required 10 parts per billion in a bag of maize.

“The shortage of maize for milling is resulting from aflatoxin and declining supplies are the key factors behind the rising cost of flour in the shelves,” said Mr Hutchinson.
The shortage has pushed up the price of maize, with a 90 kilogramme bag costing Sh2,800 from Sh2,000 in January.

Last week, the government said farmers in the country are holding six million bags of maize in anticipation of high prices in future.

READ: Maize flour prices to continue going up until August

Mr Hutchinson said millers are banking on the Tanzanian crop that will be harvested from this month, but pointed out that they are not certain whether the stocks will instead go to Southern African countries of Malawi, Zambia and South Africa that have been hit by a severe shortage.

“Hopefully, the stocks from Tanzania will get to Kenya and this will play a significant role in checking the rising cost of flour, however, we are not sure if we will get the maize from Tanzania because it might find its way to other neighbouring countries,” he said. 

Cases of aflatoxin are high in Kenya and thousands of people especially in the countryside have been affected because the flour they grind in the local posho mills does not undergo testing.

The fungus develops on grain exposed to excess moisture.