Farmers Review Africa Sept/Oct 2018 FRA - September - October 2018 digital 5 | Page 7

NEWS
NCPB facing difficulties in
selling imported maize
By Nita Karume
T
he National Cereals and Produce
Board (NCPB) is currently
struggling to sell imported maize.
The maize in question was imported
under the subsidy program meant to
cushion consumers from high flour
prices.
Now the millers are reportedly
reluctant to buy the maize being sold
at US $22.85 (Sh 2,300) per 90kg
bag despite having been imported at
US $39.74 (Sh 4,000). According to
media reports, the NCPB is holding
350,000 out of the 630,000 bags
it released to millers last year at Sh
2,300 before the end of the subsidy
program on December 31, 2017.
Pending distributions
The board’s corporate affairs manager
Mr. Titus Maiyo said that they are yet
to distribute well over 350,000 bags of
maize imported by firms from Mexico.
He also added that millers are invited
to buy said maize.
Mr Maiyo further dispelled fears
that they were unfit for human
consumption, seeing how they have
been in their stores for about two years
now. He went on to insist that there
is proper storage of the grains in their
silos, making them suitable for human
consumption.
The government pumped in
approximately US $60Bn to import
maize to lower flour prices. This is
following the inflated price that had
hit Sh153 for a 2kg bag at the time.,
However, this soon came down to
Sh90 following the intervention.
Nonetheless, millers are reluctant to
purchase maize from NCPB. They are
instead opting for cheap produce from
Uganda which is going for as low as
US $11.92 (Sh 1,200) per 90kg bag.
Meanwhile, some of them have been
forced to scale down operations to
milling twice a week. This is due to
the plummet in the demand for sifted
maize flour. But low maize prices are
an advantage to consumers most of
whom have opted for posho maize
flour, which is more affordable.
September - October 2018 | 5