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Farmers’ fury over poor maize prices amid bumper harvest
Farmers pack dry maize into bags in Nakuru County on September 23, 2024.
Farmers in North Rift are stuck with maize unable to fetch better prices and others selling at throw away prices despite a bumper harvest.
Nation.Africa has established that farmers have stocks worth millions of shillings due to falling prices that have plummeted to Sh2,200 per 90kg bag.
Brokers and millers are having a field day securing maize at low prices.
A spot check by Nation.Africa established that farmers are selling maize at between Sh2,200 and Sh2,700 for a 90kg bag. This translates to Sh30 to Sh70 per bag.
The prices are likely to drop further following the arrival of cheap grain from East Africa Community (EAC) member states.
Farmers are asking the government to allocate funds to National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) under the supplementary budget.
NCPB acts as a market stabiliser buying produce at attractive prices of above Sh4,000 per a 90kg bag.
Small-scale farmers are the most affected as they are forced to bear with the poor maize prices set by buyers after the government delayed opening the NCPB silos on time.
Disillusioned farmers who are holding onto their harvest following a bumper harvest, partly attributed to the subsidised fertiliser and favourable climatic conditions are unable to deliver the produce to NCPB because the government failed to allocate funds for the purchase of the crop under the National Strategic Food Reserve in the recent national budget.
“The situation is likely to get worse than last year considering that we still have a huge stock of the previous season's yield while harvesting this season's crop is ongoing,” said James Songok, from Kerita, Uasin Gishu County.
“In the event the government does not allocate more funds under a supplementary budget, middlemen will cash on the desperation of the farmers to offer low prices and hoard the produce to cause artificial shortages in the market,” said Kipkorir Menjo, Kenya Farmers Association (KFA) director.
Maize farmers had a bumper harvest this year with the government projecting about 70 million bags this season.
The Ministry of Agriculture has maintained that it will not increase the buying price from Sh4,000 and that the government will only open NCPB stores when funds for buying maize become available.
Farmers in the region are now calling on President William Ruto to intervene and stabilise the market prices to protect them from exploitation by middlemen.
Large-scale farmers led by Patrick Wanjala from Saboti regretted that despite government investment in subsidy programmes to cushion farmers against high production costs, it has failed to cushion them from poor returns.
“This price is too low for us this year. The government should have set the lowest market price to help us get better returns,” said Mr Wanjala.
Lawmakers from maize-growing zones are also under pressure from farmers to compel the government to allocate funds under the supplementary budget to purchase the crop at attractive prices of above Sh4,000 per 90kg bag.
“Farmers appeal that the NCPB commences buying the crop to enable farmers to break even and earn a profit,” appealed Prof Phyllis Bartoo, Moiben MP during last Sunday's Church service attended by President William Ruto.
Farmers said they are disappointed and are forced to sell their maize at throwaway prices due to harsh economic times. The heavy rains also frustrated the drying process causing poor moisture content, which also affects the buying price.
“I sold 20 bags of maize last week and I got too little but because I had an emergency I just had to dispose of my maize. I sold at Sh2,300 per bag but would have fetched Sh34,000 more if I had sold at Sh4,000,” said Peter Wafula from Kwanza.
The NCPB capped the purchase of the produce at one million bags last season offering Sh4,000 per bag, which locked out many small-scale farmers from benefiting from the scheme.
“Farmers might be forced to go to the streets unless the government comes up with clear policies including offering attractive prices to support agriculture, which forms our economic blood vein by allocating more funds to buy the crop,” said Jackson Too from Moiben, Uasin Gishu County.
President Ruto has, however, steered clear of appeals by local leaders to have NCPB purchase the produce at Sh4,000 per 90kg bag to cushion farmers against exploitation by middlemen offering Sh2,000.
President Ruto had indicated that his government has procured sufficient subsidised fertiliser for the next planting season while urging maize and wheat farmers in the region to diversify to other lucrative crops like coffee, avocado, and macadamia.
