Kenyans can now buy a Ksh3,200 worth bag of maize at Ksh. 900 as the Government probes into the corruption levels of National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPD).
The price for the 90kg bag has been forced to take a nose dive because the Government has stopped purchasing the produce from farmers citing corruption investigations of the board.
Currently, the board has 500,000 bags in store estimated at a cost of 1.6 Billion they acquired last season hence no room to buy others.
For these bags, the Government still owes farmers up to Ksh3.5 billion shillings with plans to vetting them before a payout of Ksh1.4 Billion is issued.
To avoid the loss, the farmers have even decided to sell off their bags of maize to animal feed manufacturers.
For those who managed to sell to NCPD before the suspension, their pay is not yet disbursed and status still unknown.
“We are struggling to meet ends meet due to lack of a market for produce and delays by the government to release payment for maize deliveries to NCPB depots,” Mr Wesley Kosgey told Daily Nation.
This comes at a time when the Government plans to inject cheaper maize flour into the local market to cushion consumers from exploitative millers.
On Wednesday this week, Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mwangi Kiunjuri gave a directive to traders to retail a 2-kilogramme maize flour at Ksh75.
On the other hand, Dairy farmers are counting their profits as they are now accessing fodder at cheap costs and still expecting it to go down during this harvesting season.
