Workers pack maize into sacks after drying, near Eldoret Grains Limited in Uasin Gishu County on January 18, 2019. FILE PHOTO | NMG
What you need to know:
Only farmers who have been vetted will be allowed to deliver the grain
Those who have not been vetted will have to wait for a while, says NCPB.
The government will buy 2m of maize from farmers at Sh2,500 per 90-kilogramme bag.
National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) will start receiving maize from farmers this Wednesday, the board’s acting managing director Albin Sang has said.
He said they did not have the approval before to receive the produce in their silos, hence the delay, but had now been allowed by the Strategic Food Reserve Trust Fund (SFRTF) to buy maize.
“Despite President Uhuru Kenyatta issuing a directive that we start buying maize, we were still waiting to be allowed by SFRTF which liaises with the Treasury so that we get funds for the purchase of grains,” the managing director told the Business Daily.
He added: “We were waiting for SFRTF to give us a go ahead to buy bags both local made and others and they have allowed us and assured us that there are funds and farmers who have been vetted by national and county governments will start delivering their produce this Wednesday and tomorrow, in local dailies, they will get the conditions of delivery.”
Mr Sang further added that farmers who have not been cleared by the national government and devolved units might have to wait a little bit for them to deliver their produce.
He asked those who have queued in different NCPB depots across the country to leave, saying he does not recognise them unless they can prove their grain has not been imported.
“Those who have lined up in different silos across the country should leave because we do not recognise them. We must vet them to ensure that they do not have grains imported from other countries,” said Mr Sang.
Genuine farmers
The MD reiterated that vetting will see to it that only genuine farmers are allowed to deliver, blocking our unscrupulous traders who infiltrated the board last time.
The government announced that SFRTF would buy two million bags of maize from farmers at Sh2,500 per 90-kilogramme bag.
According to Mr Sang, 12 counties that will deliver maize include Uasin Gishu, Trans Nzoia, Kakamega, Migori, Elgeyo Marakwet, Laikipia, Kericho.
He also said the SFRTF will determine the amount of maize each of the 12 devolved units will deliver to the board.
“SFRTF will direct counties the amount of maize each of them will deliver to the silos,” he said.
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