Maize Flour Price to Increase Over Grain Shortage

The price of maize flour is expected to go up by 2 shillings for a 2kg packet due to shortages in the market. The shortage in the market has been attributed to farmers holding onto 85 percent of the total stock of maize in the country in anticipation of higher prices.

The witnessed erratic rains that delayed planting could also impact negatively on the produce affecting the entire food security of the country, considering that maize is the most dependent meal in Kenya, with 90 percent of the produce obtained from the rift valley region

The food balance sheet report from the Ministry of Agriculture indicates that growers are holding 8.5 million bags of maize stocks out of 10.1 million bags of 90Kgs, which has left millers facing a shortage of grain, subjecting consumers to high prices of flour.

Millers have warned about high prices in the commodity that will be subjected to consumers in the coming days, at the back of short-grain supplies.

Millers are now pleading with the government to start importing the grain from outside the country because of the looming shortage in the market.

 Millers said they had been receiving reasonable stocks of maize from Tanzania in February, but the volumes have declined. Supplies from Uganda are being exported to South Sudan, where they make a kill in prices due to scarcity.

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United Grain Millers Association chairman Ken Nyagah said they hardly get grain from farmers.

“We have no grain in this country, the little that was with National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) has already been bought, it was not even enough, we were getting like 500 to 1000 bags, this is not to say that there was anything at NCPB, but by now they have depleted their stocks,” Nyagah said.

The price of a 90-kilo bag of maize has hit a high of 3,700 shillings per bag delivered in Nairobi from a low of 2,800 shillings in December last year. This has seen the price of a two-kilogram packet of flour retail at 125 shillings.

The situation is expected to prevail unless the government starts the importation.

Currently, in most retail outlets, the prices of some brands like Soko, Jogoo, Dola, Pembe, and Ajab are currently selling at 128, 125,135, 134, and 131 shillings, respectively for a two-kilo packet at major retail outlets from an average of 108 shillings in December.

In the short term, Kenyans were hoping that the government would liberate them from this economic turmoil by lowering the VAT on regular household goods

However, the expectations have been hit hard as the government plans to add more VAT on several other goods across the market.