Maize price increase ruled out

• Amount which farmers want is not sustainable, says minister

The Government has ruled out increasing the producer price of maize as demanded by farmers.

National Planning minister Wycliffe Oparanya said the Government would instead import maize at Sh2,700 per 90-kg bag to feed the more than 10 million Kenyans facing starvation.

Farmers are demanding Sh2,800 for a 90-kg bag but the Government is ready to pay them Sh1,950 for the same.

The farmers want the price reviewed for them to release their stocks.

Speaking to the press in Butere, Mr Oparanya said it would be difficult for the Government to pay the farmers Sh2,800 and sustain the price in future.

Emergency

“If we give them what they are demanding today, we shall be inviting trouble in future because the Government might not be able to sustain that,” the minister said.

The Butere MP said farmers must be content with what the Government was offering because the food shortage facing the country was an emergency.

Maize farmers in the North Rift have, meanwhile, offered to sell the grain to the Government at Sh2,500 for a 90-kg bag.

They said they were ready to release their grain to the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) if they were offered Sh550 more than Sh1,950 instead of the Government importing the grain at a higher price.

Speaking at Eldoret’s NCPB depot where they assembled at the weekend, the farmers said their production costs rose after fuel prices hit a high of Sh120 a litre during the planting season last year.

They criticised the decision to import before buying the grain from them.

Led by large-scale farmers among them Mr Jackson Kibor, Mr Silas Tiren and Mr Timon Busienei, the group asked why the State did not control the prices of fertiliser last year before deciding to fix the price of the staple food at Sh1,950.

“Where were they (Government) when fertiliser and petroleum dealers cashed in on us?” they asked.

A 50-kg bag of fertiliser cost Sh4,000 last year.