Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mithika Linturi announced plans to have maize flour prices reduced by March 1, 2023.
Speaking to the press on Tuesday, December 3, Linturi committed to seeing the price of maize flour - currently retailing at over Ksh200 - reduced to ease the burden on Kenyans.
He explained that the importation of maize, which had been directed by the government in December 2022, was aimed at fulfilling President William Ruto's campaign pledge to lower the cost of living.
"I want to commit that by the end of February, the cost of unga will have gone down and that of Rice will also come down," he stated.
Additionally, the CS intimated that other food commodities such as rice would also be reduced with time but failed to disclose the rate at which the products' pricing would be affected.
On the other hand, Linturi urged Kenyans to invest in agriculture explaining that it was the only way of reducing the cost of living.
He stated that the insufficient supplies in the market are what pushed the state to import various commodities.
"I want to encourage Kenyans to plant something no matter how small the land is.
"If we were all to rely on buying food, assuming that nobody went to the farm to produce that food, we wouldn't chew on the coins or the notes that we all have," he asserted.
The high cost of food prices has also seen Kenyans criticise Ruto's administration for failing to fulfil his campaign pledge despite being in office for over 100 days.
For instance, a 2-kg packet of maize flour ranges between Ksh200 to Ksh250 across the country.
Consequently, through a Gazette notice dated December 23, 2022, Treasury CS Njuguna Ndung'u approved the importation of duty-free maize and sugar to mitigate the shortage in the market.
“In light of the notification of an impending food crisis in the country by the Cabinet Secretary for Agriculture and Livestock Development, 600,000 metric tonnes of milled rice may be imported into the country duty- free” read the notice in part.
