Rising maize flour prices a wake-up call for State

That maize flour prices have risen by up to 28 percent this week points to a perennially chaotic grains market and failing food security strategies that need to be re-examined comprehensively.

The price of a two-kilo packet of maize in Nairobi was retailing at a high of Sh109 on Monday from an average Sh85 since February, with millers attributing the increased prices to reduced supply of grain in the market.

This is curious, coming just months after the country reported a bumper harvest of 40 million bags of maize in 2018, the highest production in the last three years. It also comes against the government disclosure last month that there were 46 million bags of maize in the country held by millers, farmers as well as relief and humanitarian agencies.

Clearly there is distortion of sorts in the grain markets that must be addressed because there is maize in this country and sharp increases in the price of flour only reveal that there is a problem in the supply chain. Farmers have in the past complained of unfair pricing by the State, which buys maize through the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB). Brokers too offer below market prices, especially soon after harvests. This has often led farmers to hoard their stocks with hope of landing better prices. Because of the lacuna, cartels have also thrived in the grains market by creating artificial shortages to enable them profiteer through importation as witnessed in the 2017-2018 window when they flooded the local market with imported stocks at the expense of farmers who remained stranded with produce. Such scenarios distort the market and it is only proper that the State reached a lasting deal with local maize farmers so that they are compensated fairly for their effort and investment to avoid intermittent hoarding of stocks.

Cartels have taken advantage of the feuds between the government and farmers to press for importation of maize under the guise of bridging shortages in the market. This should not be allowed to happen. The government should enter negotiations with farmers and mop-up all the locally available maize to stabilise prices. Or the market for grain should be left to the free market, so that farmers can negotiate directly with millers.

The cyclical trend of mysterious shortages of maize should end. However, this would only be possible through proper planning and close monitoring of the grains market.