Maize farmers face glut over bag limit

Trucks deliver maize to the National Cereals and Produce Board depot in Eldoret on January 21, 2019. PHOTO | FILE NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • The farmers' problems have been exacerbated by unwillingness by private millers to buy the maize because they have enough stock.
  • The board is offering Sh2,500 for a 90 kilogram bag, but it has not purchased the produce almost a month after President Uhuru Kenyatta directed it to buy from farmers.

Farmers in the North Rift have decried the government's move to limit the number of bags they can deliver to the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB).

They said the stringent conditions have only served to lock them out and expose them to exploitation by middlemen who offer low prices.

The government plans to buy two million bags of maize worth Sh5 billion under the quota system, where each farmer is to deliver not more than 400 bags of maize to the board.

The disillusioned farmers on Sunday criticised the decision, arguing that it was not the best solution to the woes facing the sector.

“It is pointless for a farmer to undergo the rigorous vetting process only to be allowed to deliver one or two bags out of the hundreds he has harvested,” Jackson Kosgey from Ziwa, Uasin Gishu County, said.

SURPLUS

At Kong’asis Co-operative Society in Soy, 25 out of 500 members have been cleared to deliver less than 100 bags of maize to the board.

“I harvested about 9,000 bags of maize while I have been restricted to deliver only 400 bags to the board. Where will I sell the rest of the produce when NCPB is our main market?” Eglyne Chepchirchir from Moi’s Bridge wondered.

The farmers' problems have been exacerbated by unwillingness by private millers to buy the maize because they have enough stock.

“Most millers are faced with market challenges for their products that have resulted in scaling down of operations to cut down on costs,” Kipngetich Mutai of Innet millers said.

Maize prices in the region have plummeted from Sh2,000 to Sh1,600 in the past one week due to delays by NCPB to buy the produce.

VETTING

The board is offering Sh2,500 for a 90-kilogram bag, but it has not purchased the produce almost a month after President Uhuru Kenyatta directed it to buy from farmers.

The farmers are required to produce their national identification cards, Personal Identification Number, land title deeds or lease agreements for the vetting exercise and clearance to deliver the produce to the board.

Those who want to supply more than 400 bags to NCPB must get clearance from the SFRTF board in Nairobi.

This comes as the NCPB is still awaiting approval from the SFRTF board to procure gunny bags to store the grains. “We are still waiting for the SFRTF to give us a go ahead to buy the gunny bags,” Mr Sang said.

According to sources within the Agriculture ministry, tenders for the procurement of the gunny had not been awarded when the president issued the order due to lack quorum.