NCPB yet to begin buying maize from famers a week later

Uasin Gishu County youths demonstrate at Nandi Gardens, Eldoret town, on December 17, 2014 to compel the government to buy maize from farmers at Sh3,500 per bag. The National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) has not began purchasing maize from farmers a week after the government directed it to do so. PHOTO | JARED NYATAYA |

By  COPPERFIELD LAGAT

What you need to know:

  • The farmers who are afraid the NCPB may charge them exorbitant storage fees are demanding that the board pays them as soon as it collects their maize.
  • The government said 90kg bag of maize would be bought at Sh2,300 plus a rebate of Sh500 while a 50kg bag will go for Sh1,275 for 50kg and a rebate of Sh278.
  • NCPB says it will buy maize in 50kg bags in accordance with the Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Authority Act of 2014.

The National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) has not began purchasing maize from farmers a week after the government directed it to do so.

Unhappy farmers in the North Rift said they have only been issued with storage receipts for maize delivered.

“We are only given receipts indicating we have delivered maize but there is no payment. The receipts do not also show how much a farmer should claim from the board which is a cause of worry for us,” John Kibet, a farmer from Uasin Gishu said on Wednesday, in Eldoret.

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The farmers who are afraid the NCPB may charge them exorbitant storage fees are demanding that the board pays them as soon as it collects their maize.

“The board has not started buying maize. The receipts it is issuing us with only indicate that the produce has been collected by their warehouses,” Mr Kibet added.

“The receipts should indicate the amount offered per bag and any charges the farmer may incur during the process, otherwise, the receipts are confusing us the way they are,” said Mr Kibet, after finally delivering his maize after five-day wait.

DISPLEASED WITH PRICES
The disillusioned farmers said they are also unhappy with prices announced by the government recently. The government said 90kg bag of maize would be bought at Sh2,300 plus a rebate of Sh500 while a 50kg bag will go for Sh1,275 for 50kg and a rebate of Sh278.

Meanwhile, the NCPB has announced that it will vet all those intending to sell maize to it to weed out middlemen.

“We want to ensure only genuine farmers benefit,” NCPB managing director Newton Terer told the Nation.

Mr Terer the also asked county governments to form vetting committees that will recommend the farmers NCPB should buy maize from.

VETTING COMMITTEES

The committees will have chiefs, sub-county commissioners, county ward administrators and agricultural officers among others, as members.

“The board will only buy maize from farmers and the committees will be mandated to confirm to us the name and the amount of maize a farmer has produced and intends to sell,” Terer said.

Kiminini and Sinyenjere (Trans Nzoia), Progressive Farmers Society and Merewet (Uasin Gishu), Kabiyet and Lelmokwo (Nandi), Kipsiro and Kamukuiyo (Bungoma), Kapcherop and Chepkorio (Elgeyo Marakwet) are the other buying centres farmers can deliver their maize.

NCPB says it will buy maize in 50kg bags in accordance with the Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Authority Act of 2014.

The farmers want the price of a bag to be Sh3,200 and not less than Sh3,000.

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