Naivas-Supermarket in Machakos town. (Photo/softkenya.com)
Residents of Machakos town and its environs are still enjoying subsidized maize flour even after the government wound up the subsidy programme on the commodity on December 3.
A spot check in leading supermarkets within the town’s CBD showed the retail stores were still selling the commodity at Sh90 per 2-kilogram packet, except Hostess maize flour which was going for Sh185 at several supermarkets.
A visit to the Old Naivas Supermarket revealed that the store was still restocking their shelves with the subsidized flour even as most Kenyans brace for tougher times following the decision to end the programme.
While announcing an end to the government maize flour subsidy last week, Agriculture Cabinet secretary Willy Bett said prices would not rise above Sh120 per two- kilogram packet.
“The supply of maize in the country has stabilized. As the government, we are keen to ensure that change in price is not anything to worry the consumer,” he said.
The National government started the subsidized maize programme in June last year at a cost of Sh6 billion to cushion consumers from the high cost of the product occasioned by prolonged drought, which was aggravated by fall worms that destroyed hundreds of acres of maize in some of the maize producing counties.
According to a 2006 report by the African Agriculture Technology Foundation, maize demand in the country has been on the increase, exceeding supply. In 2008, maize production stood at 2.4 million metric tons (26 million bags) against a national requirement of 3.1 million tonnes (34 million bags).
With the country’s population projected to be 43.1 million by 2020, the demand for maize is likely to be 5 million metric tonnes. Based on the prevailing population growth rate, it is projected that Kenya will have a maize deficit of 1.2 million metric tons by 2020.