This archive report was first published on 9 July 2019.
As the maize crisis looms over Kenya, it is imperative that the government takes urgent action to prevent a shortage and subsequent price hike. The debate about maize shortage has dominated public discourse for months, but little has been done to pre-empt and abate the inevitable crunch.
At the heart of the crisis is the contestation between the Agriculture ministry and the Strategic Grain Reserve board over the quantities of maize to be imported. The ministry is contemplating approving the importation of 12.5 million bags of maize to plug the deficit and mitigate foreseeable hunger, while the SGR board is not convinced, arguing that the government should only allow importation of two million bags to avoid saturating the market.
However, the real concern is not just the quantity of maize to be imported, but also the transparency and accountability in the process. The government must ensure that the importation of maize is done in a way that is free from scams and corruption. This means that the criteria for awarding licences to procure maize must be clear, and the quantities involved must be transparent.
Furthermore, the government must revisit the question of sustainable and long-lasting food security. It is unacceptable that the country is pushed into a food crisis every other cycle due to crop failure, poor marketing, and post-harvest mismanagement. This creates the necessity for automation of farming, proper storage, and appropriate structures for marketing and distribution of the yields.
As we navigate the immediate remedies, it is essential that the government unlocks the impasse over maize imports and ensures that the process is transparent and free from corruption.
