RUTO in tears as his plans to grow maize in Zambia and import to Kenya to help reduce the cost of unga blows up in his face – See what Zambia has declared?

 

Wednesday April 12, 2023 – President William Ruto’s government has been forced to go back to the drawing in its bid to reduce the cost of unga.

This is after Zambian Government announced a maize shortage in the country which may have far-reaching consequences for food security in Kenya.

The shortage, which was announced by the country’s Ministry of Finance and National Planning, was made barely a month after Kenya inked a deal to grow maize in the South African country.

Through a statement, the Zambian Government announced that just like Kenya, it would resort to importing duty-free maize.

“The Finance Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane has signed a statutory instrument to provide for the suspension of duty on maize flour.”

“The measure has been implemented to help address the shortage of maize flour in some parts of the country,” the statement read in part.

Musokotwane revealed that suspending the duty would increase the availability of Zambia’s staple commodity. 

Agriculture Cabinet Secretary (CS) Mithika Linturi, in March 2023, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with his Zambian counterpart Mtolo Phiri of large-scale farming of maize in Zambia for export to Kenya.

Linturi revealed that the development was part of the government’s long-term plans to curb food insecurity in the country.

“The Government of Zambia has given us an opportunity to ship maize from Zambia to Kenya,” the CS announced at the time.

Under the deal, the two governments are supposed to enter into a contractual agreement where Zambia farmers would grow Maize solely for export to Kenya to help reduce the prices of unga in the country.