Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe has announced plans to import 5.5 million bags of yellow maize over the next 12 months, with import duty slashed by up to 50 percent, as part of efforts to ease the rising cost of maize flour (unga).
In a statement issued on Friday, April 4, CS Kagwe said the yellow maize will be used exclusively for animal feed, while white maize will remain designated for human consumption.
The move comes amid growing competition between animal feed and flour millers for limited white maize stocks—an imbalance that has driven up demand and significantly increased unga prices.
“The price of a 90-kilogram bag of maize has surged by about 26 percent over the last three months,” said Kagwe. “This price hike has directly inflated production costs, prompting millers to pass the burden on to consumers through higher retail prices for unga.”
To ensure efficiency, the Ministry of Agriculture will vet and approve feed millers eligible to import the non-GMO yellow maize. Only those with the capacity to process the commodity will receive clearance.
The initiative is part of a broader government strategy to fully transition animal feed production to yellow maize.
“I urge farmers to consider growing yellow maize to help meet the domestic demand of over 1 million metric tonnes annually required by the feed industry. This shift will cut reliance on imports and support economic growth,” Kagwe added.
At the same time, the government will continue to supply white maize from the National Strategic Food Reserve to millers producing maize flour for human consumption.
Currently, the retail price of a 2kg packet of maize flour ranges between Sh130 and Sh195, depending on the brand and location.
