Posted on September, 18, 2018 at 10:56 am
By AGATHA NGOTHO
The oversight board of the Strategic Grain Reserve met yesterday to address the maize crisis ahead of new harvests and limited storage.
Farmers from the Eastern, Western and South Rift regions have started harvesting, but the peak period in the North Rift will be from next month until November.
SFR chairman Noah Wekesa yesterday said they focussed on prices, storage and stock to restore order.
The sector has been rocked by graft and payments to big traders before legitimate farmers. Several ministry and NCPB officials have been charged with irregular payments.
Agriculture PS Richard Lesiyampe, former National Cereals and Produce Board MD Newton Terer and former finance manager Cornel Kiprotich were charged with irregular purchase of Sh5.6 billion maize.
Many farmers have yet to be paid for supplying maize. Last month, the government introduced stringent new vetting of farmers before they could get Sh1.4 billion released by the Treasury. Some have been paid.
Many North Rift farmers rejected the vetting and told the NCPB to use the data it had to clear the payments.
They warned they will shift to other crops from next year. The farmers also blamed problems on uncontrolled importation of cheap maize.
On August 30, Wekesa told the Senate that the country had a stock of 3.6 million 90kg bags.
This season, we expect about four million bags of maize at the SFR, but we want to increase capacity to eight million bags. However, this will require more resources to ensure the oversight board has enough structures to serve farmers,” he said.
NCPB acting MD Albin Sang said they intend to remove up to 1.4 million bags to create space for the new harvest.
“We’re holding 3.6 million bags across the 47 counties. We’ve already moved maize from the Eldoret and Moi’s Bridge silos and are finalising with the Kitale depot. We’re moving the maize to the Nairobi depot in Industrial Area via train to create space,” he said.
Sang said the cereals board has a full capacity of about 20 million bags for maize, wheat, rice and fertiliser.
“If the SFR has money, they can buy 1.4 million bags from the new harvest,” he said. The expected harvest is 46 million bags. “The challenge is getting new markets, but we’re talking to food agencies, including the World Food Programme. We urge the NCPB to sell maize stored for more than six months to create space for the new harvest.”
On Wednesday last week, Sang told the Senate some maize has been stored for more than six months, especially in Kisumu, and has started turning yellow. He said, however, the maize is fit for human consumption.
The Senate select committee co-chaired directed the Kenya Bureau of Standards and the Trade ministry to test maize in all silos in two weeks.
Source: The Star