North Rift grain farmers seek better prices

Farmers in the North Rift have issued a two-week notice to the cereals board to increase the buying price of maize and wheat, threatening to resume protests if their demands are not met.

Carrying placards, maize cobs and wheat stalks — the farmers, who took to the streets of Eldoret Town on Monday — also threatened to review their political position, come the 2017 General Election should the prices remain the same.

The grain growers want the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) to buy their maize at Sh3,000 per 90kg bag, up from Sh2,300 and wheat at Sh3,200 instead of Sh3,000 for the same quantity.

“We will not allow a few individuals to benefit and yet farmers struggle to produce the crop. Farmers are unable to take their children to school for lack of money,” said Mr Kipkorir Menjo, the Kenya Farmers Association boss.

Mr Musa Barno, the Kenya National Farmers Federation of Agricultural Producers branch chairman and Mr Patrice Chepkwony, a farmer from Soy, claimed that poor fertiliser supplied through a subsidy programme had led to an increase in the cost of production as they had to use other farm inputs to improve yields.

Mr Barno said that if the pricing remained unchanged, they would seek an audience with President Uhuru Kenyatta.

A Trans Nzoia gubernatorial aspirant, Mr Joshua arap Sang, said that they had resorted to peaceful demonstrations to ask the government to review prices due to the high cost of production.

“We are also asking any leader or businessman importing maize and selling to the NCPB to stop or else we will name and shame them,” he said.
The farmers said that despite engaging the Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture over their woes, the MPs had not submitted a report to the National Assembly.

REVIEWING PRICES

However, Dr Johnston Irungu, the Director of Crops in the Agriculture ministry, said they were reviewing prices based on the cost of production.

“During our meeting in Nairobi with the Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture we agreed that the Government through the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) should buy a 90kg bag of maize at Sh3, 000 but it is now buying the produce at Sh2300 which is against our agreement,” said Mr Kimutai Kolum, a farmer from Moiben.

Dr Johnston Irungu, the director of crops in the Agriculture said that the ministry was currently reviewing the prices based on the cost of production.
“As ministry we are engaging the experts from the Egerton University’s Tegemeo Institute who will assist us to get the price which was set from last season based on the cost of production,” Mr Irungu told Nation on phone.

He noted that the ministry, last year bought 500,000 bags through the Strategic Food Grain Reserve and plan to double this figure to 1 million bags this season.

In the budgetary allocation, the subsidy programme on fertilizer and seeds to lower the high cost of production received a major boost.  This year the government allocated sh4.9billion up from Sh3billion to the subsidized fertilizer programme. 

The Cereals board was allocated Sh3.4 billion in 2013/2014, Sh2.7 billion in 2014/2015 and Sh1.6billion this current financial year in the national budget.

Last month, some of the local elected leaders from the region added their voice to the debate asking the national government to increase the maize prices.

Uasin Gishu County governor Jackson Mandago and Nandi Hills MP Alfred Keter said that the maize prices should be reviewed due to the high cost of production.