The government is set to allow animal feed millers to import 5.5 million bags of yellow maize at half the duty in a bid to ease pressure on maize flour prices.
Agriculture and Livestock Development Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe says the decision to allow importation of yellow maize is on the backdrop limited maize supply which is not able to sustain demand by animal feeds and maize flour millers.
“As a result of this increasing demand, the price of a 90 kilogram bag of maize has risen by approximately 26pc compared to three months ago. This upward trend in maize prices has directly impacted the cost of production, prompting millers to pass the increased costs onto consumers through higher prices of maize flour (unga),” said Kagwe in a statement released on Friday.
Kagwe says the government will gazette the directive which will allow a list of vetted animal feed millers to import non-genetically modified yellow maize at 50pc duty waiver for a period of one year.
“The objective is to reduce pressure on local white maize stocks by shifting animal feed millers to yellow maize. This will allow millers focused on human consumption to access available maize at fairer prices, ultimately leading to reduced production costs and more stable unga prices for consumers,” he added.
The ministry is also urging farmers to consider cultivating yellow maize for animal feed industry to meet annual domestic demand estimated at over 1 million metric tonnes and cut dependency on imports.
Kagwe said the government will also release regular maize from the National Strategic Food Reserve to millers producing maize flour for human consumption in bid to cushion consumers from rising unga prices.
By Ronald Owili
