Kenyans would have to scrimp and save a little bit more to buy a bag of maize flour. Millers have warned of an approaching maize catastrophe in the country due to both internal and external issues. If the government doesn’ t step in, the millers say there would be a severe scarcity of maize flour by March of 2023.
It turned out that the domestic shortage was caused by millers’ reluctance to import the commodity due to rising global pricing. For example, the millers informed Nation that the cost of importing a 90- kilogram bag of non- genetically modified (GMO) corn would make maize flour unaffordable for many Kenyans.
The National Cereals and Product Board (NCPB), which serves as the nation’ s reservoir, is nearly depleted for reasons beyond the miller’ s unwillingness to import. As reported by the Ministry of Agriculture, NCPB’ s current supply of six million bags of maize is insufficient to meet the country’ s needs for more than a month.
Since the NCPB did not acquire any maize during the 2022/2023 marketing year, there is currently no emergency supply on hand. Several farmers rushed to sell their crop to traders and millers before prices dropped, making it impossible for NCPB to buy the corn. As a result of President William Ruto’ s government order, Kenya imported 10 million bags of corn.
Mill owners say it will be a while before the 10 million bags arrive, so the government is being encouraged to find other ways to protect consumers from the price hikes. The former president, Uhuru Kenyatta, instituted a subsidy program to safeguard consumers, but current president, William Ruto, has rescinded it on the grounds that it is detrimental to the economy.
The previous government spent Ksh8 billion subsidizing maize flour over the course of two months, and Ksh15 billion subsidizing fuel per month. While touring the Bondeni Affordable Housing Project in Nakuru County on February 13, the President announced his decision to end the maize subsidy and implement austerity measures in order to reduce the country’ s soaring foreign debt. Around the country, a 2- pound bag of maize flour currently sells for around Ksh180.
