The government has assured Kenyans that measures were put in place to ensure that the prices of maize flour were stable, contrary to speculations that prices are set to rise in the coming days.
Agriculture and Livestock Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe urged Kenyans to ignore unsubstantiated reports speculating of a possible rise in prices of maize flour, saying the government was comfortable with the quantity of maize in the country.
“We know that there are some people who are hoarding maize in anticipation of a shortage of the produce when the prices go up, but unfortunately, this is not going to be the case because we have enough stockpile of maize in our strategic grain reserves,” the CS said.
He announced of plans to release maize from the strategic grain reserves, adding that they had appealed to the government of Tanzania in case of any eventuality since we trade in maize freely around the East African Community,” he said.
The CS gave the assurance on the sidelines of the United Nations Food Systems Summit (UNFSS+4) at the United Nations complex in Nairobi
“We are going to release some of the maize from the strategic grain reserves silos to the millers so that the prices remain stable, and I want to assure you we have got sufficient grain reserves,” Kagwe said.
As far as Kenya is concerned, the CS said, we are fighting for food sustainability and independence but also want to make sure farmers are taken care of.
Kagwe promised that the government will soon gazette the importation of duty-free yellow maize in order for millers to be able to make animal feed, bring the price down, and also address shortages and expensive farm inputs.
The price of Unga in the supermarkets has currently shot up from 2kg at an average of Sh120 in January up to Sh145 now. The 90 kg bag of maize is currently going for Sh4000, up from Sh3500.
The two-day UNFSS+4 meeting is focusing on highlighting country-level cases of progress being made in terms of output-outcomes, change, and impacts, including problem-solving innovative practices in pursuit of food systems transformation goals.
By Wangari Ndirangu
