Tanzania to sell a million tonnes of maize and flour to Kenya

Tanzania will sell Kenya one million tonnes of maize and flour within a year to help curb a food shortage, a senior agriculture ministry official said on Thursday.

“We have generally agreed to supply them with one million tons of maize flour and grains throughout a year to help them end the prevailing food shortage,” Hussein Bashe, the deputy minister of agriculture, told Reuters.

Officials from Tanzania and Kenya will meet next week to discuss the details. The cereals board of Tanzania will oversee the deal, he said.

The first consignment of about 20,000 tonnes would be sold next month, he added. Prices had been agreed but were not yet public, he said.

The deal follows a meeting between Tanzanian President John Magufuli and his Kenyan counterpart Uhuru Kenyatta in Dar es Salaam this month.

A drought in parts of Kenya has hit the production of maize, a staple crop.