• Prices usually plummet during the harvesting season towards the end of every year.
• On the retail market the common unit of measurement is a 2kg tin, popularly known as gorogoro, and it is trading at Sh100. Last year, it was selling for Sh130.
Image: FILE
Maize prices in West Pokot have dropped sharply, with those who have stocked the grain regretting why they did not sell it late last year when returns were better.
Prices usually plummet during the harvesting season towards the end of every year.
A spot check at popular maize stores and retail outlets in Kapenguria Municipality, revealed a 90kg bag of maize is averagely going for around Sh3,000.
Last year, during harvesting a similar quantity was selling for Sh3,700.
On the retail market the common unit of measurement is a 2kg tin, popularly known as gorogoro, and it is trading at Sh100. Last year, it was selling for Sh130.
A trader, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said his business entails buying maize and stocking it hoping to sell at a profit in the future.
He said last year, there was a time a bag of maize was going for Sh6,000.
“I thought this year the prices might shoot past this but unfortunately it has halved. I don’t do maize farming but always buy during harvesting seasons for disposal at a profit the following year when there is scarcity,” the trader said.
He said the drop has hit him hard because he bought the maize at a higher price than what is on offer currently.
The trader said the way market trends are manifesting, he might sell at a loss. Before, it took less than six months for the price to increase and for him to make profit.
West Pokot is a beneficiary of the maize farming in Trans Nzoia, although there are notable maize growing zones in the county, especially along the border.
Wei Wei Irrigation scheme in Pokot Central recorded good maize production.
Farmer Abraham Chepkopus said he is yet to sell his produce because of the price drop.
He said last season he incurred lots of expenses as a bag of planting fertiliser was going for Sh6,000.
“I expected that by the onset of this year’s planting season, a bag of maize would be trading at close to Sh6,000 or even more as per the estimates of last year’s cost," Chepkopus said.
"It is like this year maize farmers miscalculated and we might have challenges sustaining our maize farming venture.”
However, he is optimistic the subsidised fertiliser being distributed at Kapenguria National Cereals and Produce Board depot will help farmers during this planting season.
“I registered for the subsidised fertiliser although I am yet to pick my share because I am still monitoring the maize price trends before I sell off my stock to finance the farm inputs,” said the farmer from Mnagei in West Pokot subcounty.
For consumers, the drop in maize prices is a reprieve.
“If the price remains where it is or even drops further, as people who depend on maize as our staple food, we shall be the happiest lot," Philemon Kibet said.
"The high prices experienced last year almost made us want to support opposition demonstrations because it was becoming unbearable.”
He praised the government for supplying the subsidised fertiliser, saying it will push the cost of production down along with the prices of maize.
“A hungry nation is an angry nation. Fixing food prices through such mitigating factors will help cool down political temperaments, hence increased development activities,” Kibet said.
He said the short rains in the last quarter of last year, may have largely contributed to the current nosedive in the prices of maize and beans.
“We are not badly off since even in the market there is green maize on sale. Beans are also in abundance unlike other years where at a time like this a 2kg tin would be retailing at Sh500 instead of the current negotiable price of Sh350,” explained Kibet.
Bean prices usually rise towards the planting season.
Kibet said the price drop is a reprieve for schools management who last year bore the brunt of inflation owing to the high cost of maize and beans. Maize and beans form a huge part of students diet.
He said if the long rains start as expected, food prices will fall even more.
This week, the West Pokot government distributed subsidised maize seeds in readiness for the long rains planting season.
The county government allocated Sh60 million to procure 11,363 bales of maize seed to be distributed to 136,356 farmers.