How Ruto managed to lower price of unga in two years

President William Ruto marks exactly two years in office on Friday, during which time his administration registered strides in the agricultural sector.

At the onset of his tenure, Ruto noted that food constitutes 54 per cent of household expenditure and promised to prioritise agricultural reforms to bring down the cost of living.

His administration shifted focus from subsidising consumption to subsidising production and enhancing agricultural productivity.

In a paid advert, the government said it employed various strategies to achieve the goal - reduction of the cost of farm inputs, increasing income for farmers, creating more agricultural sector jobs and improving agricultural productivity and value addition.

The government enhanced the fertiliser subsidy programme to meet the objectives.

This involved digital registration of farmers and subsequently making low cost fertiliser available to them to enhance food production, thereby reducing food costs to the consumer awhilst creating job opportunities in the agricultural sector.

The government said there has been a 514 per cent increase in the number of fertiliser bags disbursed to farmers.

It said there has been 58 per cent reduction in the cost per bag of fertiliser, which it attributed to the 38.9 per cent increase in maize production and 33.7 per cent reduction in imports of the same.

“Due to increased maize production, maize imports (50 kilogramme bags) decreased by 10.8 million bags from 32.04 million bags in 2022 to 21.24 million bags of maize in 2023 resulting in a 33.7 per cent reduction in maize imports,” the advert added.

The government said there has been a 24 million additional 50kg bags of maize from 61.74 million in 2022, to 85.7million 50kg bags in 2023, representing a 38.9 per cent rise in maize production.

The Ruto administration said this has seen a 23.3 per cent drop in the cost of two- kilogramme maize flour.

“The subsidy programme has lowered flour shelf costs by an average of Sh39.5, with the price of a two-kilogramme packet of maize flour falling from an average of Sh169.9 in 2022, to Sh130.38 in 2024, representing a 23.3 per cent reduction,” the government said in its advert.

The government also spearheaded improvement of key agricultural value chains.

The government scrapped VAT on tea purchased from local factories for value addition.

It has further supported MSMEs by providing equipment for specialty tea production.

“These efforts have increased smallholder farmer earnings by 11.8 per cent, from Sh59.02 shillings in 2022 to Sh66 billion in 2024.”

The government has also distributed 556 metric tonnes of sunflower seeds to 34 counties, with further in- vestment in seed multiplication and coconut cultivation.

“This has resulted in an 8.3 per cent increase in the acreage under sunflower farming, from 60,000 acres in 2022 to 64,980 acres in 2024,” the advert said.

Various efforts have also been undertaken to revitalise the leather industry which include operationalising the Kariokor Common Manufacturing Facility, completing the Central Effluent Treatment Plants at Kenanie Industrial Leather Park, and providing training and tools to players.

Livestock insurance coverage has been expanded by 65.5 per cent from 304,211 in 2022 to 503,469 in 2024.

“These, among other initiatives, have led to a 30 per cent increase in the utilisation of processing capacity for skins, from 40 per cent in 2022 to 70 per cent in 2024,” the government said.

It said it has also raised the guaranteed minimum price for milk from Sh37 in 2022, to Sh50 per litre in 2024, (New KCC), representing a 35 per cent increase.

The government said milk production has grown by 13 per cent from 4.6 billion litres in 2022, to 5.2 billion litres in 2024.

It added that rice production has grown by 19 per cent, rising from 192,299 metric tonnes in 2023, to 229,064 metric tonnes in 2024.