After the last season’s harvest, farmers in Uasin Gishu County are still lining up to sell their produce to millers, maize dealers, and the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) at a more appealing price this year.
The increase in price has favored farmers’ efforts, in that now the price ranges between Sh4500 to Sh5300 per 90kg sack, a better price compared to the previous years where the same sack ranged from Sh3800 to Sh4200.
In an interview with NCPB Corporate Communications Officer, Jemimah Talei, the organisation in partnership with World Food Programme (WFP) are targeting 100 thousand bags from farmers to secure residents from hunger in the future months.
The Board is also urging farmers to register for the government subsidised fertiliser programme under the Ministry of Agriculture to enable them to acquire fertilizers at a cheaper price to increase production.
Farmers had urged the government to reduce the price to enable them to afford more fertilizers to boost their farm yields and produce more to address the problem of maize scarcity in the country.
To facilitate the process, the county government of Uasin Gishu has provided farmers and business people with a field to dry their cereals produce without any charges to help them store them for a longer period of time.
Meanwhile, the farmers fear for their future as they anticipate a decline in prices of maize when the government will import GMO maize to the country as a measure to address food insecurity, caused by less harvest due to prolonged drought in most parts of the country.
“When more maize floods the market, it will definitely lower the prevailing prices, this will subject farmers to losses as they will not be able to recover the cost they incurred during production,” observed Richard Kiplagat.
By Collins Kipruto and Cynthia Komen
