Agriculture and Livestock Cabinet Secretary Mithika Linturi has assured Kenyans that the cost of unga will go down in the coming months.
While speaking after opening the 3rd Agriculture Sector Network Summit (ASNET) at KICC, Nairobi, on Tuesday, July, 4 the CS announced that unga prices will drastically drop to levels that have never been seen in 10 years.
“Our commitment is once this harvest is done, the cost of unga will come down to levels Kenyans have never experienced in the past 10 years. The cost of unga will drastically reduce because we will have enough supply of maize,” he said.
Linturi said Kenya is expecting a bumper harvest after the government issued farmers with subsidized fertilizer.
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He further revealed that the average maize consumption is around 50 to 52 million bags per year, which will come from the harvest.
“I do not expect a deficit beyond five million bags. We are in discussion with Zambia, which is going to give us more maize,” Linturi added.
Nonetheless, the cost of unga is expected to rise even further following the introduction of a 10 per cent tax on kraft paper used for packaging.
This is part of the tax measures National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndung’u outlined in the budget statement last month.
Moreover, the Kenya Association of Manufacturers warned that the new levy will have a direct impact on the cost of packaging flour.
