By Osinde Obare
A consignment of dry maize has been shipped to Kitale from a neighbouring country, sparking off protest from local farmers who are yet to harvest the crop.
The farmers are unhappy that Kenyan middlemen have secured the cheap cereal from Bukwo and Kapchorwa districts of Eastern Uganda.
The imports have flooded various markets in Trans-Nzoia County as farmers in the area expect a bumper harvest this season.
Farmers fear the shipment could find its way into the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB), therefore locking them out of the market.
“We have not harvested our crop and we are against these imports that are going to spoil prices,” said Job Tallam, a large-scale farmer.
Middlemen are said to have purchased and transported hundreds of tonnes of maize and stocked them in some go-downs in Kitale.
A spot check in Matisi and Bondeni areas along the Kitale-Endebess highway showed that some of the middlemen were drying the cheap imports to meet the recommended moisture content.
Ugandan trucks have in the past few months delivered maize to the area that is dried before storage.
Sources say that a 90kg bag of maize is purchased from Uganda at between Sh1,200 and Sh1,800 and will be delivered to the board at Sh3,000.
“These middlemen are targeting to deliver the maize to the board. We are not going to allow this to happen and some people out there want to cash in from the business,” added Tallam.
State intervention
The farming community appealed to the State to intervene and ensure the traders do not dispose of the produce to the board.
They said they would lack market when the harvesting season kicks off next month if the board accepts the maize.
“We will not get market for our maize if the cheap imports flood the market as it will affect prices,” said area Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry Executive Officer Martin Waliula.
Kenya National Federation of Agricultural Producers said it has been alarmed by the imports and urged the State to monitor the movement of the consignment.
Some farmers secured loans from financial institutions to plant their farms saying the imports would lock them from accessing a good market. They said farm inputs were costly.
