Agriculture CS Mwangi Kiunjuri says that the National Cereals and Produce Board will not distribute subsidised fertiliser from next year onwards (see P10).
This is a good move. The NCPB has created windfall profits for middlemen and large farmers rather than helping small farmers.
Nevertheless many small farmers struggle to grow maize profitably. How can they be supported?
If government wants to support all maize farmers, the way forward is to eliminate import duties and VAT from fertiliser sales. Importers will compete and sell to farmers at the lowest prices. The importers won't have to worry that the NCPB will mess up the market by selling fertiliser at a loss. Duty-free fertiliser can be sold at close to the world price.
That will solve the fertiliser problem. But what do we do about maize price stabilisation? NCPB should get out of the market. Then government should impose an import duty on maize, say 25 per cent, that pushes up the price for Kenyan farmers.
Taxes are the answer to the maize crisis, not subsidies.
Quote of the day: “There's no reason to be the richest man in the cemetery. You can't do any business from there.”
Colonel Sanders
American businessman who founded
KFC
died on November 16, 1980
