A farmer tending to his maize farm.[Photo/the-star.co.ke]
The government has assured the market there will be enough maize stock in the national grain reserves as the subsidy programme comes to an end this month.
Agriculture principal secretary Richard Lesiyampe said that the subsidy programme will end on December 31 and government is aggressively stocking up the National Strategic Grain Reserve to ensure market stability. So far the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) have purchased almost a million bags from the farmers.
In October, President Uhuru Kenyatta announced that government will set aside Sh6 billion to buy maize from farmers at a cost of Sh3, 200. Lesiyampe, however, said that with the end of the subsidy, the price of a two-kg packet of maize flour is likely to go up, but hastened to add that it will be marginal.
Industry players say the price of a two-kilogram packet of flour is likely to go up to between Sh110 and Sh130. Titus Maiyo the NCPB spokesperson confirmed that delivery of maize to the depots has picked up in the recent past. “We have so far been able to buy 90-kg 945,000 bags of maize from farmers at Sh3, 200.