Farm**s to sell wheat locally before export
Wheat farmers in the country have had a very good harvest, and the government is expecting slightly over 1.2 million bags from across the country.
State Department for Crop Development Principal Secretary Kello Harsama said the government had set the buying price for wheat so that one bag of grade-one wheat will go for Sh5,200 and one bag of grade-two wheat will go for Sh5,100.
Speaking on Tuesday during the media launch of the African Conference on Agricultural Technologies (ACAT), the PS said that under a programme which was agreed upon between the Treasury, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Cereal Millers Association, and wheat farmers, is supposed to mop up the entire local production of wheat before they are allowed to import it.
“Under this programme, the importation duty is reduced from 35 per cent to 10 per cent and the local millers have agreed that they will first buy the whole harvest locally, thus providing a good market for the farmers,” said Harsama.
He explained that after the millers have mopped up the local wheat, they will be allowed to import another two million bags from other countries to satisfy our demand of about three million bags per year.
“The developments between Russia and Ukraine where the exportation of wheat from Ukraine has been stopped are worrying because we used to get almost our entire wheat supply from Ukraine, and those who are importing the wheat have to ensure that they get a sustainable supply of wheat from alternative sources,” explained the PS.
