RATIN

Maize stocks at strategic reserve to last two week

Posted on October, 19, 2016 at 10:56 am


The strategic grain reserve has maize enough to feed Kenyans for only two weeks amid a biting food crisis that has left 1.3 million people facing starvation. The current stock of 1.3 million 90-kilogramme bags of maize is about 3.5 million bags less than the amount required to cushion the country from food shortages.

This means the State will turn to maize imports for relief purposes given the weakened position of the grain reserves held at the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB).

The food shortage has been attributed to poor rains during the March-May long rains period. The food situation report for August indicates that the country had 1.6 million bags of maize in its stores as at August, but the NCPB says it has since released more than 300,000 bags to millers.

“We have sold an additional 350,000 bags to millers from the stock we held about a month ago,” says managing director Newton Terer.
Kenyans consume about 3.1 million bags monthly.

Traditionally, the NCPB starts buying maize from farmers from October when the harvest season starts to replenish stocks, but the ongoing protests by the farmers from the country’s grain basket have delayed the deliveries.

More than a month since the board was opened, maize farmers are yet to deliver their produce arguing that the Sh2,300 the State is offering is not sufficient to break even. They want to be paid Sh3,000 per 90-kilogramme bag.

A recent research by Egerton University’s Tegemeo Institute indicates that the country will suffer a shortage of nine million bags by next May, as the La Niña (drought) phenomenon that is expected this month would impact negatively on the short rain crop.

“Short rain harvest estimated at 4.5 million bags could be less due to the looming La Niña phenomenon, which will spell doom on crop performance in central, eastern and coastal Kenya,” says the report. Tegemeo says the October to December rains are expected to be below average with negative effects on crops that are about to be planted; thus reduced harvest.

“Maize for May, June and July might need to be covered through imports of nine million bags,” says the research findings.

The Planning ministry owes the grains reserve Sh6.8 billion for borrowing 3.8 million bags of maize for relief and fighting the effects of drought, further hurting Kenya’s efforts to ensure food security.

The urgency to replenish the strategic grain reserves is underlined by the announcement from the Ministry of Agriculture that poor rainfall would cut this year’s maize harvest by 4.6 million bags, which would hurt farmers’ earnings and increase grain prices.

A food security report indicates that maize yields will this year fall to 32.2 million bags, down from the 36.8 million bags harvested in 2015, reflecting a 12 per cent drop. A poor crop for Kenya’s staple food is set to exert pressure on inflation on high maize prices, cripple the millers and hit the government budget because of imports of the grain to ease shortage.

Source: Business Daily Africa