Posted on July, 25, 2018 at 09:53 am
Parliament has asked Government to intervene in the declining maize prices to protect farmers from further losses and misery.
MPs led by Innocent Pentagon Kamusiime (Butemba County) yesterday informed the House that the price of maize had declined from sh1000 per Kilo last year to Sh 200 per kilo today. The falling prices of maize is affecting the livelihoods of farmers. The parents will withdraw children from schools because they cannot pay their school fees. Poverty will increase if government does not do something about this “ said Kamusiime.
He explained that a smallholder farmer who plants maize on one acre expects to harvest 1.5 tonnes and earn sh 200000. He said the costs of farmers are incurring on one acre was sh 400,000 and, therefore, they were losing. The marklets for maize in South Sudan and DR congo are no longer there. There is a little export in Kenya and Somalia. What Happened to the closed markets in South Sudan and DR Congo
He queried the practice of National Agricultural Advisory Services giving maize seeds to farmers to plant when the labor was a challenge and markets are not available…
Source: New Vison | Wednesday, July 25, 2018 | Page 7