Government to buy one million bags of maize from farmers

Agriculture CS Mithika Linturi during a horticulture farm visit at Kapseret in Eldoret Uasin Gishu County on August,31,2023. [Christopher Kipsang, Standard]

The government has announced plans to purchase a million bags of maize from farmers

Appearing before the Senate House Committee on Agriculture on Thursday, Agriculture and Livestock Development Cabinet Secretary Mithika Linturi said the government has set aside Sh4 billion to buy bags from farmers.

Linturi said the move is to ensure food security in the country and also help facilitate a market system that cushions farmers from making losses.

"National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) is ready to take up grains. The minimum price will be Sh4000 per 90kgs. We are going to buy maize from our farmers that are registered," said Linturi.

He added: "That is one of the ways to bring down the cost of food so that its affordable."

He said that the cost of maize bears on the cost of food commodities in the market.

Linturi said, besides his Ministry expecting to receive new driers next month, the existing ones are functional and can accommodate up to 40,000 tons per day.

He said that the national government has updated the farmers' database system which will facilitate the farmers in the process for accountability.

"We are going to buy maize from our farmers that are registered and who are in our database," he said.

According to Linturi, the government has renovated the NCPB warehouses and is also operationalising the receipt system.s

He said: "once that is done, you can redeem your receipts then you can sell your maize once the prices have stabelised."

He affirmed the government's commitment to renew production of edible oil in the country for both local consumption and export.

"Our intention is to improve export, there is deliberate efforts from government to promote and support the sector," he said.

Aggregation of county industrial parks, he said, will help the government achieve value addition in the sector.