Gov’t details exact date Kenyans will get cheap maize, Rice.
Gov’t details exact date; Speaking to the media, Agriculture cabinet secretary, Mithika Linturi relvealed that the government has ordered over 1 million tonnes of maize.
He highlighted that this batch of maize will arrive in the country, in the next two weeks. He also stated that the head of state had allowed him to import 1.1 million tonnes of rice.
He stated,”I also plan to publish another gazette notice to top up the maize import by 500,000 tonnes from the initial 900,000 tonnes, so that in one month’s time, we would flooded this country with maize and rice.”
“I’m bringing 1.1 million tonnes of rice into the country,” he added.
Additionally, Linturi stated beside rice and maize, the government has also imported 500,000 tonnes of yellow maize and soya beans.
He further affirmed that early next month, these foods will be accessible to all Kenyans, at a very fair price.
He stated,” April 5 latest, the kind of food that would have come into the country would be cheaper,”
The CS also stated that Zambia was one of Kenya’s long-term strategies to lower the cost of basic commodities in the next six months.
Notably, Mithika encouraged farmers to take advantage of these rains and plant.
He stated,”From short-term irrigation to farm input subsidy, we are working on making the country food secure..Through the KIAMIS, we have provided subsidized fertilizers to our maize and tea farmers. KES 1.7 billion was given as a fertilizer subsidy for tea farmers.
”We thank God for the rains and urge farmers to take advantage of the season to; plant early, collect subsidized fertilizers from the depots, and harvest rainwater for irrigation after the long rains. We also urge farmers to register into the KIAMIS system,” he added.
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