CAN Unga mill Ltd, a maize flour maker company that was launched this week is buying maize from Busia farmers at Sh2200 per a 90kg bag, Sh300 more than what local businessmen in the region pay.
The miller currently produces 20 bales of maize flour per day and also processes dairy feeds for livestock such as cattle, sheep and goats.
In March this year, the Kenyan government stopped buying maize from farmers in the country due to glut in the market having bought six million 90kg bags at Sh3200 per bag, Sh200 more than last year.
The new miller therefore comes as a relief for farmers as the harvesting season two month away.
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Farmers drying maize. PHOTO/DAILY NATION.
Maize production decreased by 6.3 per cent from 37.8m bags in 2016 to 35.4m bags in 2017 according to the Economic Survey 2018 released by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics in April this year.
The drop was mainly attributed to drought experienced in most parts of the country which resulted in lower yields.
During the period under review, maize imports increased more than eight fold to 1,328 thousand tonnes.
Uasin Gishu County for instance hitherto considered as the country’s bread basket registered a decline in maize production from 4.4m bags in 2016 to 3.7m bags last year, a 25 per cent decrease attributed to infestation by the worm, head smut disease and the lethal necrosis disease according to statistics from the county’s department of agriculture.
Trans Nzoia County, a high maize production region on the other hand, harvested 4.7m bags of maize down from five million bags in 2016 due to Fall Armyworm infestation and maize smut disease.