Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Kenya Grain Reserves short of 5m bags of maize

Written By:Graham Kirwa , Posted: Tue, Aug 10, 2010

Kenya's Strategic Grain Reserve is short in excess of 5 million bags of maize.

Special programs Assistant minister Mohammed Mohammud says currently the reserve only holds 3 million bags as the ministry has been unable to purchase more grain from the farmers due to lack of funds.

Mohammud said the ministry was allocated 1 billion shillings which could only buy 600-thousand bags from the farmers.

The ministry has been consulting with Treasury to try and acquire more funds to purchase maize from farmers who experienced a bumper harvest last season after a long spell of drought.

He however said the purchasing price remained 1500 shillings which other legislators protested was too little.

The MPs wondered why the government was not buying maize from local farmers yet it had assisted them acquire inputs to increase yields after the country experienced one of the worst droughts in recent past.

Muhammud said once the funds are availed the ministry would embark in buying maize from areas that have experienced a bumper harvest.







©2010 Kenya Broadcasting Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Terms & Conditions

No comments:

Post a Comment