Ugali politics: Why maize importation is sending shivers down farmers' spines

Michael Chesenge and his wife Tabitha admire an early maturing maize crop at their farm in Timboroa. They planted the new variety that matures in between three to four months after the initial crop wilted following months of dry spell. [Stephen Rutto, Standard]

Last month, when the Ministry of Agriculture announced the importation of 25 million bags of maize to cushion consumers against a poor harvest this season, Maurice Kimutai’s sights were firmly set on returning to the farm at the onset of El Niño rains.

Kimutai, a maize farmer in Sergoit, Uasin Gishu County, was planning to harvest a small quantity of maize that survived a devastating drought that wiped out three-thirds of his crop.

As a maize producer, he was staring at the second devastation that followed the worst-ever crop loss in his decades of farming.

He estimates he will harvest about 40 bags from a farm that produced more than 150 bags last season.

Kimutai fears that the prices of the 40 bags he hopes to harvest before the heavy rains fall later in September or early next month will drop to their lowest when the imported grain hits the market.

Last year, he sold a bag of maize for Sh4300, the highest ever during a bumper harvest season.

However, the fears that the importation aimed at addressing the shortfall will protect only the consumer, not the farmer.

The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics' latest economic indicator shows that food items worth Sh168 million were imported into the country, and the green light for the delivery of maize to the market will push the figures even higher.

“I will be harvesting about 30 per cent of what I achieved last year, but the current price of maize is as low as Sh2,000 per 90-kilogramme bag,” says Kimutai.

He adds: “Previously, imported maize flooded the market and led to reduced prices of locally produced maize. Any amount of money from the sale of the small quantity of maize I intend to harvest this month may not be enough to help take my children to school. Going back to the farm to grow more maize will be impossible.”

Like many other farmers across Uasin Gishu, Trans Nzoia, Elgeyo Marakwet, Bungoma, Kakamega, and parts of the South Rift Valley, Kimutai fears that the importation of 25 million bags of maize to address the shortfall caused by massive crop failure due to a prolonged drought across the country’s breadbasket will only benefit unscrupulous traders.

The Ministry of Agriculture projects a 40 per cent maize harvest, which will be harvested just before the expected El Niño rains.

The government had also reduced subsidised fertiliser and maize costs to Sh2000 and half price, respectively.

But Kimutai says: “It would have been helpful if the government would waive for me loans that I took to produce more maize, which ended up failing this year instead. I would use the loan to buy inputs and return to the farm.”

William Kotut recorded a near-100 per cent crop failure in his Moiben farm.

He hopes to try production of beans when the El Niño rains fall, but he fears that the expected deluge may be a recipe for another crop loss.

“The Ministry would have been more innovative by availing seeds for short-season crops as well as credit. When we grow early-maturing maize seed this month, farmers will harvest before the next planting season. Importation will favour the consumer and importers, but not the farmer,” Kotut says.

Andrew Kurgat, a maize farmer in Soy, Uasin Gishu, says many farmers will only return to farms if free fertiliser and seed are provided.

“Importation of maize will save Kenyan consumers from starvation, but for how long will the country import at the expense of its farmers? A Kenyan farmer should be empowered to produce more food and lower costs,” says Kurgat.

Michael Chesenge at his maize farm in Timboroa in August. He decided to grow a new variety of early maturing seed after losing entire field to a prolonged dry spell. [Stephen Rutto, Standard]

Eldoret-based independent agronomist Stephen Ayungo said maize importers are positioning themselves to import duty-free maize, which will mitigate the acute food shortage and benefit businessmen rather than farmers.

“Duty-free importation is good business for cartels. An ordinary farmer expects decisions that will increase production and, eventually, income. In the current situation, farmers should use the El Niño rains to grow food,” the agronomist said.

According to Uasin Gishu Governor Jonathan Bii, waiver of loans will help farmers return to the farms to grow maize next season.

“We are appealing to President William Ruto to order a waiver of loans that farmers owe commercial banks. He is a farmer and was affected by the dry spell,” the Governor said.

On one end, a section of farmers from areas that have fed Kenya for decades are in a rush for solutions.

Maize farmer Michael Chesenge and his wife Tabitha are among farmers shifting from traditional maize seed, which takes at least six months to mature and is harvested once a year.

The couple kicked off their first experiment in April, planting an early-maturing maize seed, Haraka WH101, on a quarter of the land in Timboroa, on the border of Uasin Gishu and Baringo counties.

A farm where they planted late-maturing maize wilted after months of rain scarcity.

“We are already cutting the traditional maize to make animal feed because they yielded very small cobs and can’t be harvested for grain. On the other hand, the early-maturing maize is due for harvest, and I’ve already grown an acre just to compensate for the losses caused by the drought. I expect to harvest by December or January,” said Chesenge.

He added: “From next year, I will be planting early maturing seeds. There is no reason for growing maize once in a year, and we can harvest twice during one season.”

Chesenge and Tabitha wish they had planted more of the early-maturing maize seed in April since they received many orders for green cobs in August.

Magdalene Kigen, a farmer on the outskirts of Kitale town, has been growing maize for the past 40 years, and this drought has been the worst.

She regrets not planting her maize when it rained early in February, saying her crop would have survived the drought that swept through the North Rift from May if she had done so.

“I would have planted the crops in February when the rains first fell. The biggest problem was the shortage and unpredictability of rains. There was nothing we would have done as farmers because we have relied on rain-fed agriculture for decades,” says Kigen.

Like a number of farmers, she took the risk of planting three-month maize seed and hopes to harvest the crop ahead of the predicted El Niño rains.

Fredrick Otunga, a maize farmer from Shinyalu, Kakamega County, has been harvesting short-season crops in the last seven seasons.

He says that, unlike imports and subsidies, short-season maize would be the solution to Kenya’s quest to maintain its staple food – ugali.

“Short-season maize is drought-resistant, and the harvest is the same as the traditional maize. Most farmers across Shinyalu are unfortunately not going to harvest much this year because the crop wilted following the long dry conditions,” says Otunga.

He goes on to say: “There is a need to deliver more subsidised short-season maize this year.

“I will not sell my maize because the food shortage is expected to be dire. I left long season maize in 2016, but most farmers are unaware of changing technologies.”