By Mercy Imali
Kenya stares at yet another looming food crisis. On one hand, the Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mwangi Kiunjuri insists that he won’t approve a fresh round of imports. On the other, the situation has been made worse by a stand-off between the Ministry of Agriculture and NCPB over a KSH 11 billion debt.
Industry experts estimate that the remaining stock can only last for another three weeks. It is also unclear over the exact quantity of maize held by the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) and millers.
Apparently, NCPB has about 1.5 million bags of maize while millers are holding less than 700,000. This is hardly enough for three weeks
The next harvest, mainly from the second maize belt of the South Rift Valley, can only come after August. It is expected to be repressed following the prolonged drought early in the year.
Strategic Food Reserve (SFR) last week released 1.7 million bags of maize. One million for big millers and 700,000 for the small millers at KSH 2,300 per 90kg bag. The processors termed the consignment a drop in the ocean.
The NCPB management has admitted that the delayed payment has interrupted operations at the State agency that is faced with financial challenges including delayed payment of salaries to its employees for the last two months.
“There has been delays in release of maize to millers as a result of delayed payments but we expect the two departments to arrive at a quick solution into the matter,” said Mr Titus Maiyo, NCPB communications manager.
But Mr Kiunjuri has maintained that importation of duty-free maize will require authorization by the full Cabinet in order to lock out cartels.
“The stocks that we have in the country can last up to the end of June. I know time is running out, but I will leave that decision to the Cabinet,” said Kiunjuri.
It takes one and a half months for imported grains to land in the country but with red tape, the process might take even longer.