Africa-Press – Kenya. Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Peter Munya has urged Kenyans to explore other foods and cease relying on maize flour as their only staple food.
Speaking at the Nakuru Agricultural show on Friday, he said the country is currently experiencing a maize shortage that has led to a rise in prices.
“Kenyans should not depend on maize alone, there are other good foods to eat and Kenyans are farming them,” he said.
Munya added that Kenyans should try a variety of foods for them to be healthy.
He said this is also important in case of a crisis like the one the country is experiencing, where the price of maize has shot to Sh200 in a month.
The CS said the government is in talks with Uganda and Zambia, to import maize to help curb the shortage.
“The new imports will not affect local production. It is just for a moment because of the drought we are experiencing as a country,” he said.
On June 28, Munya said some individuals and prominent farmers in the country had hoarded maize to reap big once the price spike.
“Maize, being the staple food in the country, the government is looking for ways and means of addressing the cost of maize which has affected negatively every home in the country,” said Munya.
He added the government will suspend levies and any taxes imposed on imported maize in a bid to lower the prices of maize meals to manageable levels.
“It is evident that some people have been hoarding maize to punish others. We will bring down all those levies to bring down the prices to affordable levels. We do not expect any one of them to complain when the prices come down for the three months,” said Munya.
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