Reprieve for Farmers as NCPB Receives Ksh.296 Million to Pay for Maize Deliveries.

The National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) has received a total of 296 million shillings to pay for maize deliveries from farmers.

According to Titus Maiyo, NCPB’s spokesperson, the money will be used to pay maize farmers who delivered maize before March 2. He also noted that another 147 million shillings would be released for farmers who made the delivery by March 9.

So far, NCPB has bought a total of 391,000 bags of maize, which is a long way from achieving the target of 2 million bags.

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Meanwhile, as the government is purchasing the produce at a much slower pace, farmers have long grown impatient.

Kipkorir Menjo, the Director of Kenya Farmers Association says that many farmers have chosen to let go of the tough vetting process at the board that comes prior to selling the maize.

According to Menjo, the majority of these farmers have decided to sell their maize to middlemen citing slow payments.

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Although the farmers are selling the produce at meager prices to intermediaries who want profits, they have no choice since they urgently want to buy farm inputs for the coming planting season.

“This vetting process is being used to frustrate farmers all the time. The same farmers are being vetted so many times at NCPB”, Menjo noted.

Menjo claims that NCPB paid out 200 million shillings in February but so far, no other payment has been made leaving farmers distressed.

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According to the government’s directive, NCPB buys the maize at 2,500 shillings for a 90-kilogram bag, whereas independent traders offer about 2,000 shillings for the same quantity.

The Challenges

Despite Maiyo claiming that the purchase of maize is carrying on well, the industry is rocked with myriad challenges.

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The vetting conditions are meant to ensure that only genuine farmers are paid by the board, but there is a chance that the majority of actual producers of the commodity will still be left out.

“The vetting conditions were not introduced by the board at all”, said Maiyo in defense.

He says that the government set the conditions following corruption scandals in the maize industry last year.

In March, President Uhuru Kenyatta directed the cereals body to start the purchase of 2,000,000 bags of maize from farmers at the price of 2,500 shillings. The initial price set by the cabinet was at 2,300 shillings.

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