Stop overdependence on maize meals, Munya tells Kenyans

Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Peter Munya. [Phares Mutembei, Standard]

Treasury Cabinet Secretary Peter Munya has asked Kenyans to find alternatives to maize meals in a bid to reduce dependence on the crop.

Speaking to NTV, Munya said that Kenyans farm many other foods and they should instead turn to them. “It is good for Kenyans not to be eating one type of food.”

His comments come days after he announced that the government was removing all levies taxed on maize imported into the country, a move that reduced the price of maize flour by Sh2. The suspension applies to all border points and will be in place for the next 90 days.


“We are looking for a way to lower the prices of maize by reducing the levies applied to maize imported from overseas,” he told NTV.

He said the government is working to lower the cost further by importing more maize. “The Sh2 reduction will help but we are looking for more maize in order to lower the cost even further.”

Munya said the food shortage is not unique to Kenya, since the drought affected the whole world adding that the Ukraine - Russia war has also contributed to the crisis as well as Covid-19 which he says affected the supply chain and led to the redirection of resources which otherwise would have been used to import maize.

He assured Kenyans that the government has proper plans I pace to address the food shortage facing them, saying that the government has already purchased maize from neighbouring countries and was in the process of bringing it into the country.

Millers however criticized the move by Munya saying that the suspension of levies will not have a big impact on Kenyans. Currently, a 90-kilo bag of maize that is imported into the country is levied Sh100.

Maize flour in the country is going for at least Sh200 per two kilograms’ packet.

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