No deal on lower unga prices, Ministry & millers to extend talks

The price of a two-kilogram packet of Unga will not fall to Ksh.100 as widely reported with the Ministry of Agriculture failing to tie down millers to a new proposal.

Documents leaked earlier in the day showed the Agriculture Ministry was to establish a maize flour subsidy programme.

The programme which would have run for a month would have seen the recommended retail price for a two-kilogram packet of maize flour fall to Ksh.100 from current highs of Ksh.210 and Ksh.52 for a kilo of sifted maize flour.

The government would have in turn compensated millers for the difference (the prevailing selling price and the new subsidized self price).

According to the leaked documents, the subsidy would have been supported by an escrow account at the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) which would have been used in compensating the millers.

Nevertheless, millers did not reach a deal with the Ministry of Agriculture late in the day, with engagements on how to bring down the cost of Unga set to continue later this week.

“The Cereal Millers Association (CMA) is consulting with the Ministry of Agriculture and other relevant stakeholders on how best to reduce maize flour prices. Negotiations are at an advanced stage, but no prices have been set,” Cereal Millers Association CEO Paloma Fernandes told Citizen Digital via text message.

“We will advise all our stakeholders on progress made towards achieving our goal of providing adequate, affordable, and nutritious maize flour.”

The government appears to be keen to lower the cost of maize flour in the country to manage the high cost of living and has previously taken steps towards this goal.

For instance, the government has allowed the importation of an estimated 540,000 metric tonnes of maize on duty-free status from outside the EAC to deal with the shortfall in local maize production.

At the same time, the Ministry of Agriculture recently waived levies on all maize imports with the goal of lowering the cost of unga.

Nevertheless, the measures have so far not yielded any relief in the pricing of the staple.

On Monday for instance, a two-kilogram packet of maize flour in major supermarkets in Nairobi sold above Ksh.200 on average.