Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mithika Linturi has revealed plans to lower maize flour costs by end of February 2023.
Speaking to the media on Tuesday, December 3, Linturi pledged to lower the cost of maize flour, which is now sold for more than Ksh200 to help Kenyans.
He clarified that the government had ordered the importation of maize in December 2022 in order to carry on President William Ruto’s campaign promise to cut living expenses.
Furthermore, the CS hinted that other basic commodities such as rice will be reduced over time but did not specify the rate at which the products’ prices would be affected.
Read: Unga Prices To Hike As Tanzania Freezes Maize Export Permits
As a result of the high cost of food, fuel, and housing, Kenya’s inflation rate in December stood at 9.1%. Since June, annual inflation has exceeded the central bank’s 7.5% cap, highlighting the challenging economic conditions Kenyans have been experiencing.
Kenyans were also urged by the Agriculture CS to invest in agriculture, saying that it was the only way to lower the cost of living. He claimed that the government had to import a number of different items due to the market’s limited supplies.
“I want to encourage Kenyans to plant something no matter how small the land is. If we were all to rely on buying food, assuming that nobody went to the farm to produce that food, we wouldn’t chew on the coins or the notes that we all have,” he said.
Read: No Subsidy For Unga, Ruto Tells Kenyans
President William Ruto had earlier on stated that his government will not subsidize food products such as maize flour.
Speaking during Kenya Kwanza’s Members of Parliament (MPs) retreat in Naivasha, on September 16, 2022, Ruto said that subsiding consumable products was unsustainable, thus he would not take the move.
The president stated that the government would focus on supporting producers and let the prices of food products stabilize by themselves.
Email your news TIPS to editor@thesharpdaily.com
