Board receives Sh500m for grain

The government has released Sh500 million to the cereals board to buy maize to alleviate famine in hard hit areas.

National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) managing director Gideon Misoi said the parastatal started buying maize from farmers last week.

“We have already received more than 500 bags of maize from Kiancha and 400 bags from Kilgoris. Farmers are delivering more,” Mr Misoi said.

The NCPB is paying farmers Sh3,000 for a 90 kilogramme bag.

Expect good harvests

The government has also directed that more funds be released to buy 8 million bags to boost the strategic grain reserve, which currently stands at 2 million bags.

Mr Misoi said all depots were buying maize from farmers, including those in South Rift, Nyanza and Western.

He said the government had instructed that the grain be supplied to depots such as Turkana and Lodwar, which were in dire need.

The cereals board boss said production would not be affected because the rains experienced from July to date were sufficient to see crops reach maturity.

‘We expect good harvests in the next three months because the fluctuating rains only allowed farmers to plant between July and August,” Mr Misoi said.

He said that despite the dire need for maize, importation was not a lasting solution to the problem as it gobbled up large sums of money and resulted in increased prices of flour.

“Farmers are not hoarding maize as has been alleged in some quarters. What should have been done was to increase the buying price to Sh4,500, up from the normal Sh3,000 a bag,” Mr Misoi said.

The NCPB boss was speaking during a tour of Nyanza to educate farmers on methods of achieving good maize harvests and proper use of inputs.

Ministry of Agriculture officials, who were part of the tour, taught farmers the proper use of fertiliser, seeds and how to store the grain after harvesting to avoid aflatoxin infection.

“We expect much bigger and perfect harvests from farmers next time in Nyanza region after this training,” the Nyanza regional director of the NCPB, Mr Lameck Oyugi said.