• Njagi says recent drought was also experienced in Uganda, Malawi and Zambia where Kenya imports maize from.
• Industry insider predicts a maize crisis in July if Agriculture CS does not begin importation immediately.
Image: MATHEWS NDANYI
The government has been advised to begin sourcing for maize early to avoid a last minute rush in July when the current stock is depleted.
Timothy Njagi, a researcher at the Tegemeo Institute of Agricultural Policy and Development, said the government should start planning which countries to source maize from.
“We have already seen a scenario where the government says it is prepared and then rushes to import maize. This needs to change,” he said.
In June 2017, the country was hit by a maize shortage and government rushed to import the grain to cushion consumers against the high cost of flour which had skyrocketed to Sh150 per a 2kg packet.
Njagi said the recent drought was also experienced in Uganda, Malawi and Zambia. These are some of the countries Kenya relies on to fill the gap of maize deficit.
“This means we are likely to get maize from outside the COMESA region and hence negotiations for import waiver should start early. Secondly, given that Kenya has a ban on GMO, we need to find a country that does not grow GM maize," Njagi said.
"This will ensure we do not rush to import maize the last minute and avoid panic amongst consumers. But if we wait until June to start looking for maize, we will be in an emergency mode."
An industry player who spoke on a condition of anonymity said there will be a maize crisis in July if the Agriculture CS does not begin importation immediately.
He said Tanzania and Zambia are not allowing export of maize due to limited stock. The only country that has non-genetically modified maize and has the volume that Kenya requires is Mexico.
“If we are to import maize to be used in the country in July, it should start now since it would take 55 to 60 days for maize to get to the port of Mombasa,” he said.
He said the government should allow millers to start importing duty-free maize this month so that the country will have maize by end of July.
Njagi said the government should have controlled importation to avoid flooding the market with maize imports like was the case in 2017.
He explained that open importation may lead to flooding of the market but in controlled system, importers will have a target.
“We should have KRA monitoring how much maize is being imported. Once the country has hit the target, the process should be stopped. We should not have a scenario where there is an influx of imported maize yet farmers have a harvest,” Njagi said.