Kenya: Flour Supply in City Centre Stabilises as Transporters Resume

Flour

Normal supply of flour within Nairobi CBD resumed late last week with millers saying the shortage witnessed resulted from transporters keeping off the road.

The processors said they had enough stocks ahead of the General Election but the flour was quickly cleared off the supermarket shelves in panic buying.

"We have been milling throughout and we have enough stocks, the shortage in the market is as a result of logistical challenges in moving flour from factories to the market," said an official of Cereal Millers Association.

The official noted normal supply resumed from Thursday last week following relative calm after the Tuesday vote.

All major supermarkets ran out of flour on Monday last week and a spot check on Wednesday indicated the shelves were still empty.

A survey by Business Daily Friday indicated there was flour in most of the retail shops in Nairobi.

Supply of flour had stabilised in the country last month following a serious shortage of the staple that resulted from a failed crop last year, forcing the government to import maize. Kenya imported five million bags in the last three months.

The government is banking on the short-rain crop currently under harvest in parts of the South Rift to ease the shortage in the market.

Cereal Growers Association say the ongoing harvest in Bomet and Baringo will be down by 20 per cent due to erratic rainfall and the effect of the fall armyworms.