Nairobi: The government has assured Kenyans that measures were put in place to ensure that the prices of maize flour were stable, contrary to speculations that prices are set to rise in the coming days.
According to Kenya News Agency, Agriculture and Livestock Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe urged Kenyans to ignore unsubstantiated reports speculating a possible rise in prices of maize flour, saying the government was comfortable with the quantity of maize in the country. "We know that there are some people who are hoarding maize in anticipation of a shortage of the produce when the prices go up, but unfortunately, this is not going to be the case because we have enough stockpile of maize in our strategic grain reserves," the CS said.
He announced plans to release maize from the strategic grain reserves, adding that they had appealed to the government of Tanzania in case of any eventuality since trade in maize is free around the East African Community. The CS gave the assurance on the sidelines of the United Nations Food Systems Summit (UNFSS+4) at the United Nations complex in Nairobi.
"We are going to release some of the maize from the strategic grain reserves silos to the millers so that the prices remain stable, and I want to assure you we have got sufficient grain reserves," Kagwe said. As far as Kenya is concerned, the CS stated that the country is fighting for food sustainability and independence while also ensuring farmers are taken care of.
Kagwe promised that the government will soon gazette the importation of duty-free yellow maize to allow millers to make animal feed, reduce prices, and address shortages and expensive farm inputs. The price of Unga in supermarkets has currently increased from 2kg at an average of Sh120 in January to Sh145 now. The 90 kg bag of maize is currently priced at Sh4000, up from Sh3500.
The two-day UNFSS+4 meeting is focusing on highlighting country-level cases of progress being made in terms of output-outcomes, change, and impacts, including problem-solving innovative practices in pursuit of food systems transformation goals.