Maize farmers have been struggling to break even due to the high cost of production and low market prices.
But experts say that for farmers to benefit and break even in maize production, a 90kg bag of maize should sell at Sh6,000.
Currently, a 90kg bag of maize has dropped from Sh6,000 in early July to Sh5,000 or less this week in some areas across the country.
Kenya Farmers Association director Kipkorir Menjo said this year, farmers are expecting a bumper harvest, but maize prices are likely to come down by December due to a glut.
He said farmers are likely to be in a rush to sell maize by around December.
“Normally, the National Cereals and Produce Board usually buys some of the maize through the Strategic Grain Reserve, which helps to stabilise the price,” Menjo said.
“So far, I do not know if they have the resources to buy from farmers, so prices could go down as farmers rush to dispose of their maize, hence causing a maize glut in the market.”
Trans Nzoia Agriculture executive Phanice Khatundi said farmers will be expecting good prices for their bumper harvest. But for them to break even, a bag of maize should sell at Sh6,000.
A 90kg bag of maize is selling at Sh5,500 to Sh5,000.
“The price of the middleman ranges from Sh2,000 to Sh3,500 for a bag of maize, and when we calculate the input, it does not profit the farmer. So the favourable price of the bag should be Sh6,000,” she said.
Uasin Gishu Agriculture chief officer Elphas Kesio said for a farmer to break even in maize production, one needs to make at least 10 bags of 90kg of maize.
If a farmer can make 30 bags per acre, he will break even because there will be a surplus. He will be able to recover his cost of production and make a profit, Kesio said.
“With 10 bags of maize per acre, a farmer can meet the cost of production, and the extra bags will be profit,” he said.
Khatundi said Trans Nzoia is expecting a bumper harvest of six million bags this harvesting season.
The county produced about five million bags of 90kg last year and out of this, two million bags were consumed locally.
About 105,000 hectares are under maize production.
To increase the harvest, the county government put more focus on availing farm inputs and through the national government’s subsidy programme, more farmers were able to access fertiliser.
“We also came up with the ‘mbegu initiative’, where more than 100,000 households were given maize seedlings to increase productivity,” Khatundi said.
Farmers are also embracing crop diversification,with the county encouraging them to venture into avocado, coffee, tea and also horticultural crops.
She said the county government has been procuring and subsidising seeds to farmers as a way of encouraging crop diversification.
Khatundi said post-harvest losses are a challenge in maize production and it stands at between 25 and 30 per cent.
“We are coming up with aggregation centres so farmers can collect their farm produce to help reduce this problem,” she said.
"We also have the warehouse receipt system, which is very vibrant, and we are still educating the public on the importance of the system."
Kesio said post-harvest loss is a big challenge and various interventions have been put in place to ensure farmers access storage facilities, and utilise the Warehouse Receipt System.
This will be done by ensuring that immediately after harvest, farmers can take their grains to the stores that have been identified.
He said so far, they have licensed three warehouse receipt system stores.
“We will bring in milling facilities to add value. This will not only ensure a market for our produce but also help in shunning middlemen, who exploit farmers by offering low prices," Kesio said.
This is in addition to seeking partnerships between farmers and financial institutions so they can get enough capital even before they sell maize, the chief officer said.
He said the process is on course and they plan to bring in the milling machines and start cottage industries, which will target the youth.
The target market for the flour will be the local community and parts of Western and Nyanza regions.
“We are also trying to organise farmers into cooperatives, where we will have aggregation centres in every ward, and have a machine that can do value addition,” Kesio said.
“This is in line with both the County and National Government agenda on ensuring food security.”
Source: The Star