Agriculture CS Willy Bett has assured Kenyans that the maize shortage will be fully contained in the next one month.
The country has been facing an unga crisis for the past two months, resulting in a subsidy programme by the government which has seen flour retail at Sh90.
Despite this, most retail outlets have reported lack of the flour, saying the demand is too high.
But Bett said on Tuesday that the expected surplus of maize follows imports from the East African Community, mainly Tanzania and Uganda.
“We have consistently imported maize from various global market segments to contain the acute shortage of the commodity, following prolonged drought. Equally, farmers from some regions, mainly South rift and Western, have started harvesting,” he said.
According to the April food situation report, the government had projected a deficit of five million bags by mid-July when the first harvest will be received from Western and South Rift.
This deficit, Bett said, is what is being contained by the imports since early May when the government started the Sh6 billion subsidy programme.
