India lifts ban on importing green grams
What you need to know:
- The government successfully lobbied the Indian government to reverse the import ban on Kenyan green grams as it contemplates buying the produce for the country’s strategic grain reserves.
Opposition leaders Raila Odinga and Kalonzo Musyoka said the glut, which has seen prices fall to an all-time low of Sh40 per kilo, was a concern for all leaders.
They said that the Indian government had agreed to open up its market to Kenyan farmers.
Prices of green grams (ndengu) are likely to improve significantly following the lifting of import ban by India, and interventions by both the county and national governments to deal with the glut that has seen farmers incur losses.
The government successfully lobbied the Indian government to reverse the import ban on Kenyan green grams as it contemplates buying the produce from farmers for stocking in the country’s strategic grain reserves.
Opposition leaders Raila Odinga and Kalonzo Musyoka said the glut, which has seen prices fall to an all-time low of Sh40 per kilo, was a concern for all leaders. They said that the Indian government had agreed to open up its market to Kenyan farmers.
100,000 TONNES
Mr Odinga said he held extensive discussions with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the green grams glut affecting farmers in India lifts ban on importing green gramscounties during his recent visit to the country, and that he agreed to lift the ban.
Mr Odinga said when he was leaving for India, President Uhuru Kenyatta asked him to raise the glut issue with Mr Modi "because when he visited Kenya in 2016, he promised our farmers his country will buy their green grams".
“I told PM Modi that our farmers heeded his call and planted green grams in plenty, but they are now stuck with the produce after he banned Kenyan imports. He agreed to lift the ban and promised to take 100,000 tonnes every year” Mr Odinga told guests during the launch of Kitui Villa last week.
POOR PRICES
The ODM party leader said the lifting of the import ban will be a boon for farmers. He told leaders to focus on boosting production in the coming seasons as there is inexhaustible market for the crop in other Asian countries like Vietnam.
Mr Odinga and Mr Musyoka endorsed efforts by Kitui Governor Charity Ngilu to help farmers in post-harvest handling to prevent the produce from going to waste as the market challenges are dealt with.
Mr Musyoka defended Ms Ngilu over accusations of failing to contain the poor prices, saying the governor had nothing to do with prices determined by global market forces.
Mr Musyoka accused Kitui MCAs of focusing only on pointing mistakes instead of working with the governor to provide viable solutions to farmers.
“The county assembly should by now have come up with special intervention to arrest falling prices. Before you cast aspersions on what Governor Ngilu is doing to help farmers, tell us what solutions you’re providing to the challenges they have,” Mr Musyoka said.
FOOD SECURE
Kitui Senator Enoch Wambua is opposed to the project. He argues Ms Ngilu should buy the produce at the Sh100 per kilo price that the produce was retailing last season.
Mr Musyoka urged leaders to avoid politicising the matter and work together in realising the goal of ensuring all citizens are food secure.
Governor Ngilu said she’s focusing on securing the produce as they address the market challenges.
The opposition leaders spoke as Deputy President William Ruto announced last week that the government will soon add green grams to the crops budgeted for purchasing by State to boost farmers’ earnings and create a sustainable ready market.
PROPER POLICIES
Speaking in Tharaka Nithi last week, Mr Ruto said the government will treat green grams as it does with maize, which is budgeted for every year.
"We want green grams to be bought by the government just like maize. We’ll convene a meeting of leaders from the affected counties with officials from the ministries of Devolution, Agriculture, Security and Public Service to implement the plan” he said.
He said the crop had the potential of lifting millions of farmers from poverty and needed proper policies to address production and marketing challenges.
40:30:30 RATIO
In the plan, farmers will be supplied with new grain storage bags at subsidized rates to help them curb post-harvest losses.
“Each empty bag costs Sh200 but as stakeholders we’ve agreed to share the cost between the farmer, the county government and USAid, in a 40:30:30 ratio” she said.
She said most farmers hurriedly sold off their produce due to lack of storage facilities and as such, are at the mercy of brokers who offer poor prices.
STORE GRAIN
“The new bags will help farmers fight the scourge of weevils on stored grains giving farmers in the region an opportunity to store grain for a long time as prices stabilise,” he said.
The governor who has been passionate about turning ndengu into a cash crop for the arid areas just like coffee and tea is to Central Kenya, said she was lobbying for national policy to incorporate green grams in government food purchases for public institutions and relief food.
She said President Kenyatta had already directed government training institutions to buy the crop from the four counties to offload the huge stocks realised in the season.
WAKE UP CALL
Dr Temi Mutia, a specialist in Agriculture value chains says the India import ban is wakeup call to organise the domestic market, focusing on helping farmers do value addition to earn more from the crop locally.
Dr Mutia lamented that the same crop being sold at throwaway prices by farmers is ending up at supermarket shelves priced exorbitantly, yet the only value added is the packaging which farmers can as well do.
The lifting of import ban by India and the government plans to mop up green grams – commonly known as Ndengu or Pojo in Kiswahili will likely see prices improve significantly to at least Sh100 per kilo.
