Cost of Unga: Agriculture CS Urges Calm as Maize Flour Prices Climb

The Ruto administration called for calm on Monday as unga prices surged past Ksh160 for a two-kilogram pack in April, with warnings of further increases looming.

A 2kg packet of grade one maize flour now costs an average of Ksh164, up from Ksh100 in January. At the same time, a 90kg bag of maize is now selling for Ksh4,200, compared to Ksh3,500 at the beginning of the year.

The spike, driven by dwindling domestic maize supplies and rising demand, has raised alarms about the affordability of a staple used in millions of Kenyan households for ugali, combined with other dishes.

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Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe, addressing reporters, dismissed concerns about an imminent price spiral, asserting that Kenya has ample maize reserves to stabilise the market. “There’s no need for panic over unga prices,” CS Kagwe said. “We have strategic reserves, and we will release them to ensure prices don’t climb further.”

To boost supplies, the government announced plans to import vast amounts of yellow corn, primarily for animal feed, to ease competition between livestock producers and millers processing corn for human consumption.

The government will also offer a 50% tariff reduction on these imports for one year, a move aimed at curbing the 26% price increase in raw white maize over the past three months.

“This will be imported directly by the millers who produce animal feeds, and it is aimed at lowering the prices of animal feeds,” explained Kagwe.

Concluding, he noted that further measures include importing maize from Tanzania, facilitated by trade agreements within the East African Community.

Now, as these plans are put into action, Kenyans are watching closely to see if they will help ease the rising cost of living.

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