A few days ago, the government, through the National Cereals and Produce board (NCPB) announced that it will no longer buy maize from farmers since the allocated funds for the same had run out.

The government had allocated 2 billion KES to the NCPB for the purchase of maize countrywide. This action cannot be described any better than noble and good intentioned.

Farmers were excited that finally the government has taken action to end their suffering in the hands of cartels and middle-men who exploited them by buying their produce at very cheap prices (cheap in relation to production cost). But the excitement was short-lived. The funds allocated were insufficient and ran out as soon as the exercise  begun.

Kenya produces an average of 30 million bags of maize a year. However, the consumption presents a shortfall of about 4 million bags since Kenya consumes an average of 34 million bags annually.

The cost of production locally has gone high due to high input costs, which include the prices of fuel, fertilizer, seed and storage. Other contributors to cost of production include lack of sufficient rainfall, destruction by pests and general inefficiencies by the farmer due to minimal expertise.

However, these costs are not so significant unlike the cost of inputs. The government’s action to stop buying maize baffles and to an extent depresses. Why would the government concentrate so much in the maize shortfall and neglect the main source of production?

The government has zero rated maize imports yet it has not done the same to fertilizer, seed and other farm inputs.

Instead of zero-rating maize imports, which is the end product, why can’t the government remove duty on fertilizer or at least, reduce it significantly. This will not only help the farmer produce more per acre, and put more acreage to use but also produce it cheaply.

A farmer in Uasin Gishu County would have cultivated maize in a 10 acre land but due to expensive fertilizer, he is forced to cultivate maize in 5 acres then subdivides the rest for other farming activities like potato farming, dairy etc. or worse, uses the inputs meant for 5 acres to cultivate the 10 acres, significanlt affecting the quality and quantity of the yield.

The same applies in other counties. Farmers are cultivating less therefore, affecting production of the commodity in the country. The 700, 000 bags of maize imported into the country does nothing but deny the farmer his rightfully earned money.

The government’s rational in allowing importation of duty-free maize is that it will drive down the price of maize in the country hence, making it affordable for the poor Kenyan. Who is the poor Kenyan we ask? It is the same farmer who will sell the maize at 1,800 KES yet he produced each bag at 2,000 KES; a loss of 200 KES per bag.

This does nothing but demoralizes the farmer and makes him disillusioned. The government needs to show that it’s priority is not to put money in a few people’s hands and deny the majority their livelihoods but to help alleviate food insecurity in Kenya.