NCPB to pay farmers Sh2,800 per bag of maize
What you need to know:
- The extra Sh500, which brings the NCPB price to Sh2,800 per bag, will be paid as rebate or an allowance to cushion them from losses resulting from poor rains during planting season.
Maize farmers will earn Sh500 more per 90kg bag for deliveries to the National Cereals and Produced Board (NCPB) as the government courts growers who had boycotted selling the grain to the State agency, citing low prices.
Agriculture secretary Willy Bett said Wednesday the extra Sh500, which brings the NCPB price to Sh2,800 per bag, will be paid as rebate or an allowance to cushion them from losses resulting from poor rains during planting season.
The government prefers to label the Sh500 a rebate to avoid farmers piling pressure next year to be paid more given the sale price remains Sh2,300.
The new price could also trigger a price adjustment in the open market. Farmers in the country’s bread basket of the North Rift held demonstrations on Monday, demanding to be paid Sh3,000 per bag instead of Sh2,300.
“The government will offer a rebate of Sh500 per bag in order to cushion the farmer against losses associated with the erratic rains experienced this year,” said Mr Bett.
Traditionally, the NCPB starts buying maize to replenish stocks in October when the harvest season kicks in. But ongoing protests by farmers have delayed deliveries.
Mr Bett said NCPB had put in place mechanisms to ensure that unscrupulous businessmen are locked out.
“We know of businessmen who are holding maize waiting to deliver to NCPB, we are not going to allow that to happen as we have put mechanisms in place to ensure that it is only farmers who benefit,” he said.
He said that farmers will have to show proof that they planted the maize delivered at the board, pointing out that the ministry was working with county governments to register farmers to benefit from the scheme.
The government has been pushing for low cost of production by offering subsidies on fertiliser and seeds in a bid to make maize farming profitable while cushioning consumers from expensive flour.
Tegemeo Institute, an Egerton University think-tank, says that small scale farmers on average earn a return of Sh250 per bag of maize due to the high cost of production.
The small- scale maize farmers spend an average of Sh1,650 to produce a bag of maize while large scale farmers use Sh1,200, earning them a profit of Sh1,001 per bag.
Small- scale farmers produce more than 75 per cent of Kenya’s maize, underlining their importance to food security.
