NAIROBI: New Agriculture CS Willy Bett directed the National Cereals and Produce Board to waive maize drying charges for farmers in the Rift Valley.
He said the government has set aside Sh150 million to cater for the drying costs for farmers delivering maize to the NCPB.
Bett was on a tour of the NCPB depot in Eldoret town.
He was NCPB chief executive Newton Terer and Uasin Gishu Deputy Governor Daniel Chemno.
“Effective today, the government has waived the drying costs … as directed by President Uhuru Kenyatta last month,” Bett said.
Farmers had complained that the NCPB was taking time to implement the presidential directive.
Bett said he would meet farmers and others stakeholders to discuss issues in the agriculture sector.
“As the new CS my approach will be that we have to involve all stakeholders in how we run agriculture,” he said.
The board has bought 270,000 50kg bags of maize and paid out Sh600 million to farmers.
“Our target is to buy one million bags with the government initial funding of Sh1.3 billion but the CS has promised that more money will be availed once we exhaust what we have,” Terer said.
The board is buying maize at Sh2,300 per bag, which farmers say is too low.
Iran’s trade delegation en route to Kenya
TEHRAN: An official at Iran’s TPO said a marketing business delegation of the Islamic Republic of Iran will depart for...
