- Kenya could soon break into its grain reserves with the country's food crisis said to be growing serious, the Government has announced.
Government has futher disclosed that it is remaining with only 1.2 million bags of maize as its strategic reserves instead of the usual four to six million bags.
Addressing the media today, following a meeting with millers, Agriculture minister William Ruto, however assured Kenyans the government had put in place measures to address the food crisis, saying there was no cause for panic at this stage.
“The maize situation is under control ... the Government is on top of the situation,” Mr Ruto told the media.
During the meeting, it was also reported that while the millers agreed to continue supplying maize flour to consumers at a standard price, but they however said they had no control over retail pricing which is reported to have shot to sometimes more than double the price.
Kenya is a bit optimistic that its grain crisis could soften soon as the government is looking for alternative and harvesting in grain basket districts of the North Rift continue to early January.
“We also continue as a government to look at ways of making supplies to millers easier,” Mr Ruto said.
Millers have also been assured that within next few weeks they could start buying direct from farmers instead of having to depend on ration buying from the government stocks.
Kenya has recently committed to increasing its budget allocation to agriculture, with president Mwai Kibaki encouraging and urging, especially small-holder farmers to shoulder the burden of food security. He had also encourgaed them to adopt new technologies to improve their production and enhance their earnings.
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