The government will give incentives to millers to enable implementation of the blending policy, Agriculture PS Hamadi Boga has said.
Boga said the ministry has been pushing for a blending policy but he implementation process was slow.
“The blending policy was passed but there is need for the government to sit with the millers and give them some incentives. This is because what the millers have are the traditional mono (single) products systems and to blend they will need another production line,” he said.
The PS spoke during a roots and tuber crops development strategy forum at Kalro headquarters, which was convened by Self Help Africa supported by the European Union.
“It is a business and we cannot force them, probably we need to guarantee them of the market until people are familiar with some of these products,” said the PS.
Millers have been opposed the policy to have blend maize with millet, sorghum and cassava, citing high cost of investing in upgrading their mills.
Boga said the policy seeks create market for these produce and other root and tuber crops like cassava, yams, sweet potato and arrow roots. He said farmers produce too much of these crops and there is a lot of wastage since they cannot consume everything they produce.
“We need to invest more in post-handling facilities of the root and tuber crops, whose shelf life is short and they are bulky to move around,” he said.
Boga said the government has applied for a grant of Sh655 million from the International Fund for Agricultural Development to support these value chains through agriculture research institutions in the country.
Luciana Sanzua, Agriculture CEC Kilifi county said cassava is a very bulky product and is also highly perishable.
She said Kilifi County is the largest producer of cassava in the country with annual production of 900 million metric tonnes.
“The main areas where this crop is grown are Magarini and Kilifi South sub counties and the two sub counties can service a factory for a year. According to a survey that was carried out in February 2020, the County had a surplus of 93.6 million metric tones cassava yields and farmers had no market for the produce,” said Sanzua.
She said this led to low prices of the root crop, with a kilo selling at Sh3.
