Kenyan Govt to Release Maize from Strategic Reserve as Unga Prices Hit 14-Month High
- Agriculture Cabinet Secretary (CS) Mutahi Kagwe assured consumers that unga prices would drop as the government would release maize from the Strategic Food Reserve
- The CS revealed that the government would allow the importation of 5.5 million bags of yellow maize and waive 50% of the importers’ duties for one year
- The average retail price of a 2kg package of grade one unga has increased from KSh 100 in January to KSh 160 in May
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Agriculture Cabinet Secretary (CS) Mutahi Kagwe has asked Kenyans not to worry about the rising cost of unga.
Source: Twitter
What's the cost of unga in Kenya?
The CS said the government would release maize from the Strategic Food Reserve (SFR) to curb the shortage of the staple food.
The average retail price of a 2kg package of grade one unga has increased from KSh 100 in January to KSh 160 in May.
Speaking at the United Nations Food Systems Summit (UNFSS+4) at the UN headquarters in Nairobi on Monday, May 5, the CS reassured consumers that unga prices would come down.
This came after the price of a 90-kg bag of maize increased from KSh 3,500 in January to KSh 4,200.
“There should be no panic about the price of unga going up. It is not going to happen. We are going to ensure it does not go up by releasing maize from the Strategic Maize Reserve. We have sufficient reserves,” Kagwe stated.
Will Kenya Import Maize?
The CS disclosed that Kenya had negotiated with the Tanzanian government to permit the importation of maize.
“Within the East African Community, we freely trade maize, and we are confident that Tanzania will provide Kenya with maize,” he affirmed.
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Kagwe also explained that to lower the price of animal feed, the ministry would soon issue a gazette notice allowing feed millers to import duty-free yellow maize.
“This is intended to reduce the cost of animal feeds and will be imported directly by the feed manufacturers,” he noted.
How Many Bags of Yellow Maize Will Be Imported?
Kagwe revealed that the government would allow the importation of 5.5 million bags of yellow maize and waive 50% of the importers’ duties for one year.
He added that the imports would be handled by animal feed millers with sufficient capacity.
According to the CS, the goal was to shift feed millers to yellow maize to ease pressure on the region's white maize, whose prices had increased by 26%.
The CS clarified that this move would allow millers focusing on human consumption to purchase available maize at more reasonable prices. This would, in turn, reduce production costs and provide consumers with more stable unga prices.
What were unga prices in 2023?
Kagwe urged farmers to consider planting yellow maize in future to meet the domestic demand of over one million metric tonnes required annually by the animal feed sector.
He concluded that this initiative would strengthen the economy and reduce reliance on imports.
In 2023, Kenyans had to deal with high unga costs, which ranged from KSh 180 to KSh 200 for a two-kilo packet.
This was exacerbated by high prices for maize due to a prolonged drought.
Source: TUKO.co.ke
