Government to waive 50% duty on yellow maize imports

Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe has confirmed that the government will implement a 50% duty waiver to facilitate the importation of 5.5 million bags of yellow maize.

The move comes as the government seeks to ease the pressure on the country's white maize supplies, which are currently in high demand for both human and animal consumption.

The imported yellow maize will be non-GMO and exclusively used in animal feeds.

Kagwe emphasized that the duty waiver would support animal feed millers, enabling them to access the yellow maize while freeing up local white maize for human consumption.

“The government will gazette a 50% duty waiver for the importation of 5.5 million bags of yellow maize over a one-year period. This initiative will be carried out by a vetted list of qualified animal feed millers with sufficient capacity," Kagwe said.

"The objective is to reduce pressure on local white maize stocks by shifting animal feed millers to yellow maize.”

With maize prices surging by more than 26%, Kagwe noted that the intervention was critical in stabilizing maize flour prices for consumers.

"This will allow millers focused on human consumption to access available maize at fairer prices, ultimately leading to reduced production costs and more stable unga prices for consumers," he explained.

As competition for maize intensifies between animal feed manufacturers and millers producing flour for human consumption, the government is also planning to release regular maize from the National Strategic Food Reserve to ensure the availability of maize for human consumption.

“This intervention aims to cushion the mwananchi from the impact of soaring unga prices,” Kagwe added.

The Cabinet Secretary also encouraged local farmers to diversify into yellow maize production to reduce reliance on imports.

"I urge our farmers to consider the cultivation of yellow maize to meet the domestic demand of over 1 million metric tonnes required annually by the animal feed industry. This shift will help reduce dependency on imports and contribute positively to our economy," he urged.

In a shift from earlier government policy, President William Ruto had in October 2023 declared that no permits would be issued for the importation of wheat or maize unless local production was insufficient to meet the country’s needs.