Renson Mwakandana
Mithika Linturi, the cabinet secretary for agriculture, disclosed a pact between Kenya 🇰🇪 and Zambia 🇿🇲 that may lower the price of corn grain in the nation.
Mr. Liinturi said that the two nations will sign an agreement allowing Kenyan farmers to cultivate maize in Zambia while being welcomed by his Zambian colleague Reuben Mtolo in Lusaka on Monday.
The minister for agriculture expressed delight as the Zambian government has decided to grant Kenyan farmers land in Zambia for extensive cultivation. This will see Kenya increase its food supply and security and Kenyan farmers would thereafter be obliged to ship their harvests back to the country.
The CS also expressed appreciation for Mtolo’s commitment and affirmed that local food and nutrition security will be achieved as a result of the Kenyan and Zambian governments’ engagement. The cost of maize and its products in the nation will decrease as a result of the new memorandum of agreement, according to Linturi.
According to the forecasts given by Mtolo, the farmers will be able to accomplish their goal of lowering the price of ‘unga’ since it is obvious that they made the correct decision and that there is something to be learned from them.
“We will be able to work out a price at which they will be able to sell maize to the country at of course a much lower price than we are currently getting from the traders,” Linturi reiterated.
Farmers in Zambia would gain from the agreement as well since Kenya would have short-term access to Zambia’s surplus maize. Simultaneously, he issued a warning against the nation’s farmers who hoarded their produce in the expectation of obtaining better prices, leading to a fictitious scarcity in the nation.
He encouraged them to release the maize, warning them that they would be compelled to sell it for dirt cheap once the crop from Zambia is harvested. Linturi expressed confidence that the nation will be able to fulfill its domestic demand for maize during the six-month duty-free importing window.
