August 28, 2007

Kenya increases corn acreage by 14 percent to avoid food shortage

Kenya has increased the area corn acreage by 14 percent to avoid food shortages through higher benchmark corn prices, the country's minister for agriculture said over the weekend.

Kipruto arap Kirwa said acreage under corn has increased this year to 1.6 million hectares from the previous 1.4 million hectares.

"Corn prices used to range from 500 Kenyan shillings to KES600 (US$7.6 to US$9.2) per 90-kilogramme bag which had discouraged farmers from growing the grain, but the government set a benchmark price of KES1,300 (US$19.8) per bag and this has seen production grow tremendously," Kirwa said.

Corn is staple food for Kenya's population of 32 million people and it is grown mainly in the west of the Rift Valley region where 80 percent of annual output comes from.

Government officials reported last week that corn farmers near the Kenya-Uganda border were leasing land in neighbouring Uganda after heavy rains caused floods in the region which destroyed crops, killed at least five people and displaced hundreds of families.

There had been concerns of depressed corn yields this year due to the erratic onset of rains, with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization listing Kenya on its Global Information and Early Warning System saying it is among countries that are likely to suffer major food deficits this season due to impaired crop development.