No cheap unga in sight as things are about to get worse next month – See what millers have said that has left hustlers questioning their decision to elect RUTO?

 Monday, February 20, 2023 – Kenyans will have to dig deeper into their pockets to afford Maize flour.

This is after millers warned of an impending maize crisis in the country occasioned by internal and external factors.

The millers forecast that unless the government intervenes, there will be an acute shortage of maize flour by March 2023.

This comes as it emerged that millers are reluctant to import the commodity due to rising global prices, creating a domestic shortage.

“A 90-kilogram bag of imported non-genetically modified (GMO) maize costs Ksh6,000 meaning if we import, it will significantly raise the maize flour prices making it unaffordable to many Kenyans,” the millers stated.

Apart from the miller’s reluctance to import, the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB), which acts as the nation’s reservoir is running empty.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, currently, NCPB has a stock of only six million bags of maize which can only sustain the country for a month.

The NCPB also has no emergency stock due to the failure to buy maize in the 2022/2023 season.

NCPB could not purchase the maize because many farmers rushed to sell their produce to traders and millers as they feared the prices would drop.

This resulted from President William Ruto’s government’s directive that Kenya was to import 10 million bags of maize

The 10 million bags will take long to arrive, according to the millers and the government has been urged to look for alternative measures to cushion the consumer from higher prices.

Former President Uhuru Kenyatta introduced a subsidy program to protect the consumer but it was scrapped by Ruto, who argued it was harming the economy.

At the moment, a 2-kg packet of maize flour is retailing at Ksh180 in most parts of the country.