Government to import 25 million bags of maize amid projected food shortage
Kenya consumes an estimated 75 million bags of maize annually against domestic production of between 34 million and 42 million bags. Reduced harvests are therefore expected to create a shortfall of nearly 25 million bags, prompting the Government to intervene through strategic imports.
The government will import 25 million 90-kilogramme bags of maize to bridge a projected food deficit arising from drought and climate-related disruptions in major maize-growing regions.
Agriculture and Livestock Development Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe said arrangements for the imports are already in place, assuring Kenyans that the country will have adequate food supplies.
“We will import maize. We have already made arrangements for that. We will manage the country. Our people are not going to go hungry,” Kagwe said.
Kenya consumes an estimated 75 million bags of maize annually against domestic production of between 34 million and 42 million bags. Reduced harvests are therefore expected to create a shortfall of nearly 25 million bags, prompting the Government to intervene through strategic imports.
Kagwe said imports would provide a short-term solution while the Government invests in long-term measures to strengthen food production and climate resilience. These include expanding irrigation schemes such as Galana-Kulalu and reducing reliance on rain-fed agriculture.
Speaking in Mombasa during the Fifth Joint Consultative Meeting of County Executive Committee Members, Kagwe also announced consultations for the Agri-Connect Compact Programme, which will focus on boosting productivity, value addition and youth employment.
He said more than two million farmers had benefited from productivity-enhancing technologies under existing programmes, while 7.3 million farmers are registered on the Kenya Integrated Agriculture Management Information System.
Kagwe said 9,770 young agripreneurs under the “Green Army” are providing extension services, while more than 20 million livestock have been vaccinated through a Sh429 million Government subsidy programme.
He said the new agricultural strategy will promote irrigation, digitisation, artificial intelligence and modern technologies to make farming more productive, commercially viable and attractive to young people.
