The gloomy season for Kenyans amid the coronavirus pandemic continues with fears that the cost of ugali is expected to rise due to an acute maize shortage. As Covid-19 infections and deaths increase, Kenyans are also staring at starvation as all the maize in the strategic grain reserves has been contaminated by the deadly aflatoxin.
This is ridiculous. After all, the strategic grain reserve is supposed to be the last resort in case of a shortage. Logically, one would have expected the concerned authorities to keep a keen eye on these stocks for gradual release into the market. This is an area where the country has performed superbly in the past.
It is unbelievable that the country could have been caught flat-footed on the management of such a key national asset. When was the contamination detected? Could something have been done about it?
The concerned officials have done a sloppy job. And the country’s woes don’t end there. A new wave of locust invasions is looming. The destructive insects that recently swept across the northeastern counties heading southwards laid eggs that will be hatching soon. When the new crop begins to sprout, the voracious insects will strike.
As a solution to the looming maize shortage, millers have been allowed to import 4 million bags of the grain as the rotten stuff in the national silos is disposed of.
However, from experience, such imports often open the floodgates for cartels to profiteer from the misery of Kenyans.
Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Peter Munya must ensure that the imports are strictly monitored. The market could easily be flooded so much that when the new harvest is ready, farmers will have nowhere to sell their crop.
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