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1.4m tonnes of maize to dock in fortnight – Linturi

Wednesday, March 15th, 2023 06:20 | By
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Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mithika Linturi. PHOTO/Print

Two million metric tonnes of various duty free food will arrive in the country in the next 14 days, Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mithika Linturi said yesterday. 

The government, however, said the imports cannot guarantee  a reduction in the prices food.

Addressing the media after opening a one week Desert Locusts Control Committee Conference at a Nairobi hotel, Linturi confirmed in the next two weeks two million metric tonnes of rice, white and yellow maize will dock at the Port of Mombasa. 

He said the licensed traders have sourced maize from different market segments and soon the imports will be received in the country. 

This, he said, is despite an increasing shortage of maize and other grains globally due to escalating climate change shocks. 

“We expect accredited traders will bring in duty free 1.4 million metric tonnes of imported white maize, 1.1 million metric tonnes of rice and 500,000 metric tonnes of yellow maize. The imported foods will help in boosting local stocks,” said Linturi. 

Market segments

In a gazette notice dated December 23, 2022, National Treasury and Planning Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndung’u officially gazetted the duty-free importation of 900,000 metric tonnes of white maize, 600,000 metric tonnes of milled rice and 100,000 metric tonnes of sugar. 

Linturi did not, however, explain why the amount of assorted food that is expected  is higher than the numbers on Kenya Gazette notice.

The CS said the earliest Kenyans can expect the price of a 2kg packet of maize flour to drop below Sh100 is August when the country is likely to receive surplus food from various world market segments. 

He concurred with Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, who at the weekend said Kenyans will wait for another six months for the price of maize flour to go down when the country will start importing maize from Zambia.

Gachagua said the world is grappling with a serious maize shortage while available stocks are being sold at exorbitant prices.

Kenyans, he added, are struggling with high food prices as well as reduced stocks in the market owing to the effects of climate change. 

The DP said Linturi travelled to Zambia and successfully negotiated a government-to-government deal that will see the country supply maize to Kenya, but only after a harvest in September. 

“There is no cheap maize anywhere in the world, the only maize available is expensive to import. Unfortunately, I am sorry to tell the people of Kenya there is no maize... Cheap maize is not available anywhere in the world,” Gachagua told journalists during a media interview. 

Surplus food

A 2kg packet of unga in most of local supermarkets is retailing at between Sh190 and Sh220 while a 90-kg bag of maize is selling at more than Sh5,000. 

“Government in partnership with other value chain players is fast tracking far-reaching measures geared towards ensuring the country is protected against acute shortage of food,” Linturi added.

These include increasing imports and bilateral agreements with various governments of countries with surplus food. 

Further, he said, the government will continue supplying subsidised fertiliser among other farm inputs as part of efforts to reduce the cost of production. 

Linturi said Kenya had leased land in Zambia to grow maize in order to boost local supply. 

More imports

“Under the arrangement, the Kenya government will contract Zambia to grow food and export to Kenya. Further the Zambia government has granted the Kenya government land to grow more food whereby local farmers will be contracted to grow maize on behalf of the government,” he added. 

The CS said the cost of maize production in Zambia is cheaper at $300 (Sh38,820) for a metric tonne compared to over Sh40,000 in Kenya. 

This, he said, can translate to less than Sh80 for a 2kg packet. 

Linturi said the Kenya government had also been assured by the Tanzania and Uganda governments of more maize coming into the market in the next one month. 

“These two countries will start harvesting in the next one month and thus we can expect more import inflows to help in boosting local supplies as well as stabilising prices,” he added.

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