• SFR says this will hold till the end of August when harvests start coming in
• Board re-allocates 400,000 bags of maize which had not been cleared by millers
Image: MATHEWS NDANYI
The Strategic Food Reserve will release another two million bags of maize to millers to help stabilise the price of unga which has hit Sh130.
SFR board chairman Noah Wekesa said the maize will keep the millers running until the end of August when harvests from some parts of the country will start coming in.
"Thereafter, millers will start getting maize from Uganda. There are also inflows already coming from Tanzania and then we will have harvests from Nyanza, Bungoma and Bomet areas coming in," he said.
He spoke to the Star on phone on Monday.
Wekesa said the board has so far re-allocated 400,000 bags of maize which had not been cleared by millers.
This was part of the 1.7 million bags set aside for milling flour that SFR released to millers through the National Cereals and Produce Board at Sh2,300.
In May, the government released two million bags to millers to cushion Kenyans from high prices of unga.
Out of this, 1.7 million bags were meant for flour while 300, 000 bags for animal feeds.
Wekesa said some farmers are still hoarding maize in anticipation that prices for a 90kg bag will increase.
Currently, a 90kg bag is selling at between Sh3,400 and Sh3,800.
“But I doubt the prices will increase further. When maize from Uganda and our harvests start coming in, the price of a bag may stabilise at Sh2,800 to Sh3,000,” he said.
The chairman said this year’s long rains harvest could be slightly higher than last year's despite a delay of rains by one-and-half months.
Kenya Farmers Association director Kipkorir Menjo said the lack of subsidised fertiliser was a blessing in disguise.
“Farmers bought quality fertiliser from the agrovets even though it was expensive, and even if the rains delayed, the little that we got has really helped. I foresee some good harvest this season,” Menjo said.
But the Ministry of Agriculture projects harvests of approximately 33 million bags this year against last year's 46 million bags.
Edited by R.Wamochie