Government Is Set To Provide Cheap Maize And Rice From April

By Getrude Mathayo / Published March 16, 2023 | 4:41 pm

KEY POINTS

Currently, 2kg tin of maize costs between Ksh160 to Ksh180, while a bag of maize costs ksh6000 to ksh7000 across the country.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

I also plan to publish another gazette notice to top up the maize import by 500,000 tonnes from the initial 900,000 tonnes, so that in one month's time, we would flood this country with maize and rice," Linturi told Citizen TV. "I'm bringing 1.1 million tonnes of rice into the country.

On Thursday, March 16, Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mithika Linturi revealed that the government will provide cheap maize and rice by Wednesday, April 5.

Linturi was speaking to a local media station and revealed that the government had ordered over 1 million tonnes of maize which he indicated was scheduled to land in the country in the next two weeks.

Agriculture CS says the country will also receive additional maize imports from Tanzania and Uganda starting as the government seeks to reduce the price of maize flour in the country.

The government plans to import maize from the region to stabilize maize prices in the short term. Linturi says the agriculture ministry has reached an agreement with the two East African Community (EAC) member countries over import specifications and the commodity is expected in the country early next month.

The imports are expected to supplement the first batch of the 4 million bags of duty-free maize from outside the COMESA region, which is expected in the Kenyan market in the next two weeks.

Additionally, former Meru Senator revealed that he had received a nod from President William Ruto’s administration to import 1.1 million tonnes of rice.

“I also plan to publish another gazette notice to top up the maize import by 500,000 tonnes from the initial 900,000 tonnes, so that in one month’s time, we would flood this country with maize and rice,” Linturi told Citizen TV. “I’m bringing 1.1 million tonnes of rice into the country,” he added.

Agriculture CS said that the imported food products would be accessible at fair prices. Besides importing maize and rice, he disclosed that he had received approval to import 500,000 tonnes of yellow maize and soya beans.

Linturi defended the importation of yellow maize, indicating that some of the product would be used to feed the starving animals. “April 5 latest, the kind of food that would have come into the country would be cheaper,” he insisted.

Currently, 2kg tin of maize costs between Ksh160 to Ksh180, while a bag of maize costs ksh6000 to ksh7000 across the country.

Related Content: A 90-kilogram Bag Of Maize Hits Ksh 6,000