Kenyans will have to grapple with increased cost of maize flour beginning this week as government steadily pulls out the subsidy programme which has seen a 2kg bag of maize flour retail at sh90.
The subsidy programme has been running for a few months after maize shortage hit the country and the prices of maize flour soared to sh150 for every 2kg bag.
Government waived all duty on imported maize for millers during the period and pumped sh6 billion for the subsidy programme.
Millers would get a 90kg bag of maize at sh2, 300 from importers. Government then settled the difference as the bag goes for more than sh4, 000.
However, an insider in the Cereal Millers Association intimated there are emerging differences between the millers and government and that may end up in maize flour prices being increased.
He said that the scheme was badly managed and as a miller, his eyes are set on recovering profits after a season of controlled sale of maize flour.
“We were compelled to accept the intervention. But I can tell you that not all of us were happy with the scheme and not all of us were reimbursed fairly. Some of us gained more than others and there was poor monitoring on who got what. It will not be easy to tell what some people will be left with when this programme stops,” he said as quoted by Daily Nation.
However, Agriculture Cabinet Secretary said the subsidy programme temporary and was not sustainable because harvest is near and it will hurt the farmers.
“We will try to ensure the transition is smooth. But the Sh90 per packet will be a thing of the past. It will probably stabilize at where it was before the rise. We have received the early harvest and we expect another one next month,” stated the CS.
The subsidy programme was expected to end in July.
This is even as projection shows that there will be a reduction in the maize produced in the country following a number of factors including armyworm invasion and vagaries of weather.
The general production from South Rift, Trans Nzoia and Uasin Gishu Counties which literally feeds the nation with maize flour will drop by 8 per cent.
About 28 million bags are expected to be harvested up from 37 million bags harvested in 2016
By Pharis Kinyua. He’s an online journalist and an author for Jamhuri News