Kenya: Distribute Maize Fairly, Millers Tell CS Bett

Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Willy Bett addresses journalists at Mombasa port after receiving imported maize

A dispute is brewing between millers and the Ministry of Agriculture over distribution of the imported subsidized maize.

The small-scale millers have taken issue with the government over discrimination in allocation of the maize, which they say has led to the shortage of the staple food.

They want the government to use regional balancing instead of milling capacity when distributing the maize.

SIZE MATTERS

Millers in western Kenya on Sunday said they were being discriminated against because the region had few plants.

"The unstable supply of subsidised maize can hardly last a week," Mr Kipngetich Mutai of Innet millers told the Nation.

The western Kenya small millers are found in the former Rift Valley, Nyanza and Western provinces.

The processors said they receive an average daily supply of 400 bags against a demand of more than 1,000.

OPPORTUNISTS

The complaints came even as Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Willy Bett said on Saturday that the government would identify posho mills to be allocated imported maize for processing.

"We have set some conditions and will work with those who meet them."We are aware that whenever there is a programme for government subsidy, some businesspeople take advantage to make more money but this will not happen," the cabinet secretary said. 

MILLING PLANTS

He added that the government would use all means possible, including railway and road transport, to distribute the subsidised maize to every part of Kenya.

Western Kenya small millers said they received 32,000 bags of maize in the recent allocation while their counterparts in central Kenya got 153,000 and the balance distributed to small millers in other parts of the country.

There are 30 small milling plants in the region, stretching from Kajiado to Homa Bay and Busia counties.

"The fact that most milling plants are in central Kenya does not mean that the region should receive a bigger chunk of the subsidised maize," Mr Jackson Kosgey, another miller complained.

COST OF FLOUR

The imported subsidised maize flour is missing in most shops and supermarkets, with most retailers selling the 2kg packet above the recommended government price of Sh90.

A 90kg bag of maize is going for Sh5,200 in most parts of the region.The imported maize, a product of the Sh6 billion subsidy, is meant to lower the price of a sack to Sh2,300. 

LOCAL MARKET

Even with the shortage, some farmers in parts of the North Rift have criticised the government for importing the maize, saying it is destabilising the cereal industry.

"The government should put in place stringent measures to ensure that the imported maize does not outstrip the projected harvest as this could destabilise the local market and lower the cost of the produce," Mr James Too, a large scale farmer from Uasin Gishu County said.

According to the ministry, 1.2 million bags of imported maize had so far been distributed to millers.

HARVEST

Maize production in the Rift Valley, the country's food basket, reduced from 21 million bags to 16 million last season and the yield is projected to decline further this year due to diseases and erratic climatic conditions.

Drought and an armyworm attack are also likely to reduce the harvest.