Before you vote: The truth about maize payments to farmers

Farmers dry maize near Eldoret Grains Limited before selling to millers on November 28, 2016 . PHOTO | JARED NYATAYA | NATION MEDIA GROUP

“When Kalonzo, Kibaki and I were in government we used to pay farmers Sh3,200. When Jubilee came in they removed Sh1,000 and said farmers should be paid Sh2,000. Farmers complained and complained, demanding Sh3,000. Now they are paying Mexico farmers Sh4,200… They have refused to pay farmers Sh3,000.
– Raila Odinga at a rally in Kisii on May 17

Farmers were paid an average of Sh3,396 for every 100 kg of maize in 2012, the last full year of the coalition government, before it dropped to Sh3,133 in 2013 according to the Economic Survey 2013.

In 2014, it increased slightly to 3,318 but plunged by 45 per cent to 2,870 in 2015, perhaps because of the record production of 42.5 million bags of maize that year.

Last year, maize production declined by 13 per cent to 37.1 million bags, yet farmers did not reap the benefits of increased demand for maize, with the average amount paid to them only increasing by three per cent to Sh2,969.

In February this year, the National Cereals and Produce Board board resisted pressure from farmers to increase their maize buying price from farmers from Sh3,000 saying it would lead to an increase in the price of maize flour.

But then the price of maize flour skyrocketed. In January this year a 2kg packet of maize flour sold for about Sh120, but by March it had jumped 28 per cent to sell at about Sh154.

In an attempt to bring down the cost of food, Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich waived import taxes on maize and removed VAT taxes maize flour. Imports began arriving in Kenya mid-May.

The government also announced a Sh6 billion maize subsidy to lower the cost of flour to Sh90 for a 2kg packet. Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Willy Bett says the cash was offered to millers so that they could mill flour at Sh2,300 per 90-kg bag, from the current Sh4,000. This means the taxpayers will reimburse the millers about Sh1,700 for every imported bag of maize.

While it is true that at least in the final year of the coalition government maize farmers were paid more than the Jubilee government has been paying them, it is incorrect to say the Kenyan government is paying Mexican farmers Sh4,200, especially after it emerged that the imports were shipped from South Africa.