Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe now says that the government will gazette a 50 per cent waiver to allow the importation of at least 5.5 million bags of yellow maize.
According to Kagwe, this is in a bid to reduce the pressure on white maize, which is currently being used by humans and animals as feed.
He said the imported yellow maize will be non-GMO and will be strictly used for animal feeds.
The CS said the directive will reduce the demand for maize, which has increased the price per bag of maize (90kg) by at least 26 per cent.
“The government will gazette a 50% duty waiver for the importation of 5.5 million bags of yellow maize over a one-year period. This initiative will be carried out by a vetted list of qualified animal feed millers with sufficient capacity. The objective is to reduce pressure on local white maize stocks by shifting animal feed millers to yellow maize.
“This will allow millers focused on human consumption to access available maize at fairer prices, ultimately leading to reduced production costs and more stable unga prices for consumers,” Kagwe said.
He noted that there is growing competition between animal feed millers and maize millers for human consumption over the limited maize grain stocks available in the country.
Kagwe added that the government will soon release regular maize from the National Strategic Food Reserve to millers producing maize flour for human consumption.
“This intervention aims to cushion the mwananchi from the impact of soaring unga prices,” he said.
Kagwe further urged farmers to consider planting yellow maize to reduce dependence on imports for animal feeds.
“I urge our farmers to consider the cultivation of yellow maize to meet the domestic demand of over 1 million metric tonnes required annually by the animal feed industry. This shift will help reduce dependency on imports and contribute positively to our economy.”
In October 2023, President William Ruto announced that no permits would be issued to millers to import wheat or maize into the country.
Ruto said the move is aimed at protecting local farmers.
He said the Government would only deviate from the directive if the local produce was insufficient.
