Maize farmers fault limitation of grain deliveries as NCPB opens doors

Stacks of maize at the Eldoret National Cereals and Produce Board depot. [File, Standard]

Large scale maize farmers in the North Rift region have protested the limitation of grain deliveries to the board even as the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) opens doors for last year’s produce.

The farmers said the move to limit maize deliveries to a maximum of 400 bags is unfair to large scale farmers who produce more than a thousand bags. Daniel Birech, a Uasin Gishu farmer, said more maize will remain in stores, leading to losses even as the planting season kicks in.

Mr Birech noted that it will be difficult for farmers to repay loans if the state limits maize deliveries to NCPB to only 2 million bags.

“The state has been conducting vetting in sub-locations and villages, but unfortunately, many farmers have been denied opportunity to deliver their produce. In one village, the farmers have been ordered to deliver not more than 80 bags of maize, yet they have produced more than 10,000 bags,” he argued.

Another farmer Samson Lagat said traders are taking advantage of the state’s move to reduce the quantity of maize deliveries to buy the produce at prices as low as Sh1,200 per 90kg bag.

Kenya Farmers Association (KFA) director Kipkorir Menjo said the vetting of farmers has forced many to queue outside NCPB depots with their tractors instead of tilling their farms in readiness for the planting season.

“Sustained frustrations may force farmers to sub-divide and sell land to repay loans. This will eventually lead to low maize production and will affect food security in a negative way. We urge President Uhuru Kenya to restore order in the maize sector,” he said.

Strategic Food Reserve (SFR) Chairman Noah Wekesa who was in Uasin Gishu and Trans Nzoia to inspect readiness of NCPB depot to receive maize told traders and maize millers to buy the produce at the Sh2,500 set by the State.

“I am urging farmers to resist prices below Sh2,500 set by the government. We are buying only 2 million bags when the country produces 43 million bags of maize. So, millers and traders should not buy maize at lower prices,” he said.

Speaking at the Moi’s Bridge NCPB depot on Thursday evening, the SFR chairman said Eldoret stores were ready to receive 93,000 bags of maize.