Millions of toxic maize bags to be destroyed

Millions of bags of maize in government silos are to be destroyed after they were found to be contaminated with aflatoxin.

Agriculture CS Peter Munya admitted the problem to Parliament on Monday.

The government plans to import four million bags to ease the shortage before the next harvesting season expected to begin in August.

Munya said all the maize in the government stores is unsafe for both human and animal consumption after they were contaminated with aflatoxin.

“We don’t have any stocks in store. What we have is maize contaminated with aflatoxin. We want to give it to cement makers to be used for fuel,” Munya said.

The CS made the disturbing revelations when he appeared before the Senate Committee on Agriculture to discuss the food situation.

“It makes me sad that so much maize that Kenyans’ money was used to buy has been contaminated. Which effort is the government making? Because you can't import maize or buy from farmers only for it to be contaminated,” nominated Senator Naomi Shionga asked.

Munya said the Cabinet and the National Response Committee on Covid 19 have already ordered his ministry to destroy the grain that cost the taxpayers billions of shillings.

Munya did not disclose the number of bags that will be destroyed, saying, "I do not have the numbers" but promised to provide the numbers to the committee later.

Barely two months ago, the Kenya Bureau of Standards and millers raised concerns about the high levels of the toxic aflatoxin in maize in the market.

Last year, there was a public uproar after it emerged that sugar and maize imported into the country had high levels of the toxic substance.

Poor storage facilities have been the major cause of the high levels of aflatoxin, putting the National Cereals and Produce Board and the Food Strategic Reserve on the spot over the handling and storage of millions of bags they buy from farmers.

Munya told the committee chaired by Embu Senator Njeru Ndwiga that at least four million bags are to be imported into the country to mitigate the projected shortage.

“Maize importation was sanctioned by the Cabinet after we did an assessment and found that the county will experience a shortage," he said.

Already, the importation has been gazetted for two million bags of white maize (for human consumption) and a similar number of yellow maize (animal feed)

The imported maize will sell for  Sh2,900 to Sh3,000 a bag.

The planned importation elicited a barrage of questions from the senators who demanded to know why the government was determined to import the grain while farmers in North Rift are still stocking millions of bags in their stores.

“What is the rationale of importing when farmers in Nandi, Eldoret and Trans Nzoia still have millions of bags in their stores?” Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei asked.

But Munya said the government projection suggests that the current stocks in farmers’ stores will not be able to fully meet the needs of Kenyans especially at a time when the county is battling calamities that need relief food. He referred to the locust infestation and the coronavirus.

Munya further divulged the government will no longer be buying the grain to store in stores as it does now.

Instead, the government will buy the maize when a need arises and distribute it immediately to the needy. The NCPB will be buying and immediately sell just like private players.

“We want to lease out up to 25 per cent of the space at our stores. We want private players to lease them and use it to store maize. We will be buying from them after we ascertain their maize is safe,” he said.

The CS sought to allay fears of a food crisis during this period of the  Covid 19 pandemic.

“The coronavirus outbreak and resultant movement restrictions initially hit the farming’s workforce and marketing sector and disrupted food supply. So far, however, these were addressed with the proper protocols," Munya said.

(Edited by V. Grahm)