Nairobi - Kenya’s
reserves of corn dropped to less than a day’s worth of consumption after stocks
of the staple grain were released to millers, the National Cereals and Produce
Board said.
The reserve currently stands at 50 000 90-kilogram bags,
equivalent to 4 500 metric tons, NCPB Managing Director Newton Terer said by
phone Tuesday from the capital, Nairobi. The board released about 36 000 tons
to millers last week, he said.
The NCPB is awaiting information from the Agriculture
Ministry about how the reserve will be restocked, Terer said, declining to
comment further. Agriculture Secretary Willy Bett on Tuesday cancelled a second
briefing in as many days that had been scheduled to discuss food security in
the East African nation.
Agriculture Ministry Principal Secretary Richard Lesiyampe
didn’t answer his mobile phone when Bloomberg called seeking comment. Kenya had
insufficient rain in crop-growing areas in March and April, the Kenya
Meteorological Department said Monday in a preliminary assessment of the
March-May so-called long rains.
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Most weather stations reported receiving less than 75
percent of their seasonal long-term average, it said. “The depressed rainfall
over most agricultural areas in the country has resulted in poor crop
performance and even crop failure in some regions,” it said.
Depleted Reserves
Kenya consumes about 288 000 tons of corn per month,
according to the Cereal Millers Association, an industry body. Of that, about
135 000 tons is packaged and sold by millers, CMA Chairman Nick Hutchinson said
in an interview on Tuesday.
Reserve corn sold to CMA members for 3 000 shillings ($29)
per 90-kilogram bag was enough for only 8-12 days and insufficient to drive
retail prices down, the industry body said last week. Millers are now forced to
buy from the market for almost 50 percent more.
Supply from Ethiopia
is limited and costs 4 200-4 400 shillings per bag, according to CMA. Zambian
imports that were yet to leave the southern African nation last week will
probably sell at similar prices. While some shipments from Mexico are already at the port in Mombasa, the berthing of
the first vessel will only take place on May 17 if the rainy weather permits,
according to the statement. It could take as long as two weeks for that grain
to reach millers.
“What NCPB gave us is peanuts,” Hutchinson said Tuesday,
adding that authorities should be clear on when fresh imports are expected. “Do
we get maize or not?”
BLOOMBERG