Recent reports indicate that Tanzania has frozen the issuance of new maize export permits to Kenyan traders.
Several Kenyan millers and animal feed manufacturers disclosed recently that they have been unable to establish normal trade relations with Tanzania maize exporters.
Kenyan media platform; Business Daily Africa was able to gather from these Kenyan miller and animal feed manufacturers that Tanzania has stopped issuing new permits for a week now, constituting a shortage of maize in Kenya.
The permit for grain export from Tanzania is a one-off permit, as such the permit needs to be reissued every time a new batch of grain is intended for export.
The scarcity of this essential crop in Kenya affects its own sales and distribution, as the price for maize is sure to be inflated. It also affects the production of commodities that are manufactured or extracted from the produce. The production of flour is taking the biggest hit.
“We have been unable to get maize from Tanzania since last week after the country stopped issuing export permits to traders with the cutting off of stocks from Tanzania expected to push up the cost of flour,” Said Ken Nyaga, the chairperson of the United Grain Millers Association.
This permit denial should it persist could prove damaging to the agricultural ecosystem of Kenya. Following the instalment of a new regime, which saw the restoration of cordial relations between the Kenyan government and Tanzanian, Kenya has gotten a major chunk of its grain supply from its neighbor country.
According to the report by Business Daily Africa: Data from the Eastern Africa Grain Council shows imports from Tanzania nearly grew five-fold last year to 469,474 tonnes from 98,000 tonnes in 2020. The development has left processors jostling for stocks that are available locally and a few imports coming in from Zambia. Tanzania restricts exports to protect its local stock following poor harvests.
Kenya has been reliant on Tanzania and Uganda for maize exports to meet up with the growing demand for flour within its country.
The Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs) confirmed that the maize coming in from the Namanga border has significantly declined, leaving Zambia as their only remaining source for the product.
“We have witnessed a significant decline in maize coming in from Tanzania; on average we are now getting 10 trucks from a high of 80 trucks previously,” a Kebs official at the Namanga border said.
According to millers, the shortage occasioned by the Tanzanian ban will push up the price of maize locally to Sh5,900 for a 90-kilogram bag from Sh5,400.
The current state of affairs regarding the product's availability has left countries in the region competing for limited white maize for flour and animal feeds.
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