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Agriculture secretary Felix Koskei (right) with Green Arava CEO Barak
Tamir when they signed a deal to build a model farm in Tana River and
Kilifi. PHOTO | JENNIFER MUIRURI
By GERALD ANDAE, gandae@ke.nationmedia.com
In Summary
- Agriculture ministry estimates the country will harvest 34 million bags against a target of 42 million this year, due to poor weather.
- The National Drought Management Authority and the Kenya Red Cross have warned of a looming famine following the prolonged drought.
- The country’s strategic maize reserve has dropped to nearly half of the optimum level of five million bags, underlining the food crisis facing the country.
Maize production is expected to drop by eight million bags this year in what will put pressure on flour prices and inflation.
The food report released Wednesday by the Agriculture
ministry shows that the country will harvest 34 million bags against a
target of 42 million bags due to poor weather, especially in North Rift
Valley.
“We expect to register a drop in this year’s
harvest, however, this should not be a cause for alarm as production of
other foodstuff such as Irish potatoes and pulses have improved,”
Agriculture secretary Felix Koskei said at a press conference.
This comes at a time when the Ministry of
Devolution has released Sh1 billion to help in fighting hunger that
threatens more than one million Kenyans in 23 counties.
The National Drought Management Authority and the
Kenya Red Cross have warned of a looming famine following the prolonged
drought.
Mr Koskei, however, said currently there is enough
stocks in the country but the problem was accessibility by the affected
persons.
“As of July this year, the country had stocks of
9.8 million bags of maize, which is enough to take us for the next three
months. What we have is sufficient but the problem is getting access to
it,” he said.
Frequent poor weather has hit Kenya’s
farm-based economy hard. The country’s strategic maize reserve has
dropped to nearly half of the optimum level of five million bags,
underlining the food crisis facing the country.
Maize prices have a big effect on inflation in
Kenya where it is the staple food and accounts for a significant share
of poor households’ budget.
Kenya’s inflation crept up to 7.67 per cent in July
from 7.39 per cent in the previous month, meaning that the cost of
living measure went slightly above the central bank’s preferred range of
2.5-7.5 per cent.
According to the food report, farmers are holding
about 4.4 million bags, traders 1.7 million bags, NCPB 2.9 million bags
and Millers 395,000 bags. Food aid agencies including WFP, World Vision
among others were holding 256,000 bags of maize.
The country expects 1.8 million bags of maize
through cross-border trade between now and October, especially from
Uganda and Tanzania, which help in stabilising the price of the staple.
The price of flour has so far reduced by an average
of Sh6 as a result of the imports from the EAC states as well as the
move by the National Cereals and Produce Board to release half a million
bags of maize to the market at a low cost.
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