Agriculture CS Munya [Photo: Kenya Times]
Kenya will in two weeks time import maize from Zambia, following talks between the government and with other countries in the COMESA region.
Agriculture CS Peter Munya says the move seeks to address the shortage of the grain, and cushion the country from the high cost of the commodity.
“We are in talks with the governments of Uganda, Tanzania and Zambia on how to address logistical challenges and low volumes being imported by the value chain players,” he said.
“I am positive that Kenya will be able to import and get maize from Zambia as the trucking of maize takes between seven and 10 days to reach Kenya,” he added.
The move comes at a time when the price of maize flour is retailing between 200 shillings and 250 shillings for a 2kg packet of maize flour.
The prices are the highest to be recorded in the country.
Last week, Munya announced a three-month duty waiver for all imported maize as part of measures to reduce the cost of food prices.
“Besides duty waiver on maize imports, the Government is putting in other additional measures to see to it that the price of Unga comes down. We are discussing logistics and a ring-fencing of quantities that would satisfy our demand here,” Munya said.