October 29, 2010

Kenyan corn farmers await bumper harvest

Corn farmers in Kenya are expecting a bumper harvest as rains subside in the main growing region to boost harvesting, a trade official said Thursday (Oct 28).

"The rains have subsided in the last two days. What I can see on the ground, we are expecting a lot of [corn]. What is taking a centre stage now is harvesting," Stephen Waweru, Regional Agriculture Trade Intelligence Network official in charge of corn marketing, said.

But the network hasn't estimated the expected harvest yet.

Waweru said demand is slightly lower than supplies and the government-run Cereals and Produce Board of Kenya should open their depots to cushion farmers from being exploited by dealers.

He said at the moment although the board has set a minimum price of 1,800 Kenyan shillings (US$21.38) a 90-kilogramme bag, dealers, especially those from Mombasa, have been offering farmers less.

The board has to clear the previous stocks to make room for the harvest, he said.

According to Agriculture Ministry Permanent Secretary Romano Kiome, Kenya has stocks of 13 million bags and expects another 36 million bags when harvest in the Rift Valley, the country's grain basket, is completed in December.

"This stock is more than adequate to take us to the next harvesting season. What we pray for is that the harvesting is completed as soon as possible so that the short rains don't destroy it," Kiome said.

Ministry and board officials weren't immediately reachable for comment. Kenya imposed a ban on corn exports in 2009 to deal with an acute food shortage.

Waweru said the harvest should be used first to meet local consumption before the ban is lifted.