June 16, 2009
Kenya farmers want wheat import duty raised to 50 percent
Farmers in Kenya want the government to raise import duty on wheat to 50 percent from 25 percent to cushion them against cheap imports, the Daily Nation newspaper reports Monday (June 15), citing Justus Monda, chairman of the Rift Valley Agricultural Stakeholders Forum.
Kenyan Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta last week raised duty to 25 percent from 10 percent and zero-rated value added tax on materials for the construction of grain silos.
Monda said this will benefit millers, who he said exploit farmers by dictating producer prices. No farm input subsidies are forthcoming from the government, he said, and wheat farmers are left with their yield as millers are offering cheap prices.
Kenya produces an estimated 3 million 90-kilogramme bags of wheat annually, while consumption is estimated at 9 million bags. The shortfall is imported.
