08/09/2026
𝗖𝗦 𝗞𝗔𝗚𝗪𝗘 𝗪𝗘𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗦 𝗖𝗠𝗔 𝗥𝗘𝗤𝗨𝗘𝗦𝗧 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗗𝗨𝗧𝗬-𝗙𝗥𝗘𝗘 𝟯𝗠𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗠𝗧 𝗪𝗛𝗜𝗧𝗘 𝗠𝗔𝗜𝗭𝗘 𝗔𝗦 𝗞𝗘𝗡𝗬𝗔 𝗙𝗔𝗖𝗘𝗦 𝟳-𝗬𝗘𝗔𝗥 𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗗𝗨𝗖𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗟𝗢𝗪
Agriculture and Livestock Development Cabinet Secretary Sen. Mutahi Kagwe is weighing a request by cereal millers for the duty-free importation of 3 million metric tonnes of white maize, as Kenya confronts a seven-year production low and moves to protect consumers from sharp increases in the price of unga.
At the same time, CS Kagwe said the government is already keen on gazetting the importation of 360,000 MT of yellow maize specifically for animal-feed manufacturing, in a move aimed at reducing pressure on the country's white maize supplies.
The yellow maize intervention would shift animal-feed manufacturers away from white maize, leaving more food-grade white maize available for human consumption and reducing competition between millers and feed manufacturers.
The Cereal Millers Association (CMA) has separately asked the Government to gazette 3 million MT of white maize for duty-free importation, arguing that the waiver would lower the landed cost of grain, widen sourcing options and help maintain affordable unga prices for Kenyan households.
CMA Chief Executive Officer Paloma Fernandes said Kenya is facing the steepest maize production decline in years, requiring early action before tightening supplies translates into shortages and higher prices.
“This is the steepest decline in production, and it is huge for us,” Fernandes told a grain-sector meeting convened by CS Kagwe.
She said the country is facing a seven-year low in maize production, with only six major producing counties expected to deliver more than one million bags this season.
CMA wants the duty-free white maize window to remain open for nine months, arguing that importers need sufficient time to secure contracts, arrange financing and shipping, and land adequate quantities of grain in the country.
The association said removing duty is critical because import taxes add to the landed cost of maize and eventually feed into milling costs and the retail price of unga.
A wider duty-free sourcing window would also allow Kenyan millers to shop for competitively priced non-GMO white maize from regional and international markets rather than being restricted to a handful of regional suppliers.
CS Kagwe backed consideration of the nine-month window, saying the government must act early to ensure sufficient supplies.
“We cannot afford not to have maize,” CS Kagwe said.
The government and millers are already exploring potential sources, with Zambia and Tanzania emerging among the immediate regional options.
Kenya's High Commissioner to Zambia, Hon. Lilian Tomitom, confirmed that Zambia has maize available and said Kenyan traders operating in the country are ready to facilitate supplies to Kenyan millers.
“There is enough maize,” the High Commissioner said, pledging to link the industry with Kenyan traders operating in Zambia and Malawi.
CS Kagwe called for engagement with the Zambian Government to explore how the source price could be lowered to offset the relatively high cost of transporting maize into Kenya.
“Engage the government in Zambia, Balozi, to bring down the cost of maize,” CS Kagwe said.
Transport remains a major challenge in making Zambian maize competitive once it reaches Kenya.
CMA also cautioned that Tanzania can impose export restrictions whenever its own stocks tighten, potentially affecting supplies from Tanzania as well as maize moving from Zambia through Tanzanian routes.
Fernandes therefore urged the government to give importers sufficient flexibility to source white maize from alternative international markets where necessary, reducing Kenya's exposure to regional supply and logistics disruptions.
While the white maize duty waiver remains a CMA proposal under government consideration, CS Kagwe indicated that the government is already keen on the 360,000 MT yellow maize gazettement for animal-feed manufacturing.
The yellow maize intervention would directly address pressure on Kenya's white maize market by reducing demand for white maize from feed manufacturers and freeing more supplies for human consumption and unga production.
CS Kagwe, however, stressed that efforts to increase supply and lower costs cannot compromise food safety.
The CS said all maize entering Kenya must comply with sanitary and phytosanitary requirements, particularly standards on moisture and aflatoxin contamination.
“Do not bring maize that is not going to pass the tests. There should be no maize in our stores that has been condemned,” CS Kagwe said.
CS Kagwe also pushed for rapid laboratory testing capable of establishing maize quality within about 10 minutes, replacing procedures that can take four hours or, in some cases, days.
The CS further called for one-stop border processes to cut clearance delays of between three and five days, saying inefficiencies increase transport, storage and financing costs which are ultimately passed on to consumers.
“Government must operate at the same pace as the private sector for efficiency,” CS Kagwe said.
The government is simultaneously seeking to strengthen the country's grain reserves.
The National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) indicated that storage capacity equivalent to approximately two million 90 kg bags is currently available.
“We want to stock our grain reserve,” CS Kagwe said.
CS Kagwe further said the government is considering a support structure involving millers to strengthen their ability to participate in national food-security interventions.
Millers also asked the government to settle approximately KSh4 billion, they say, which remains outstanding from a subsidy programme implemented about five years ago, saying the funds would help strengthen their capacity to restock.
The maize challenge is unfolding alongside pressure in the wheat sector, exposing Kenya to simultaneous risks involving two major staples.
CS Kagwe called for a two-track approach to wheat — increasing domestic production while developing a longer-term strategy to identify countries in the wider region with the climate and land capable of commercially producing wheat for the Kenyan market.
The Agriculture and Food Authority will organise a retreat to examine measures for increasing domestic wheat production, including mechanisation, irrigation and productivity improvements.
For maize, however, the immediate strategy is taking shape on two fronts: opening dedicated yellow maize supplies for animal feeds to take pressure off white maize, while considering CMA's request for duty-free white maize imports to bridge the food-market gap at the lowest possible landed cost.
The twin interventions are intended to secure adequate maize supplies before shortages emerge, protect the white maize consumed by Kenyan households and ultimately keep unga available and affordable.
