Business Daily (Nairobi)
15 May 2008
Yesterday, the Ministry of Agriculture invited tenders from millers and traders to import 17,383 metric tonnes of wheat flour for the year from Egypt and Mauritius. This is far less than the 52,149 metric tonnes recommended in the legal notice published in February that gave some 12 millers and importers a chance to import the flour.
We are worried about this because the country is going into a food crisis. Since this tender is only floated once a year, when will the balance of more than 30,000 metric tonnes be imported into the country?
We are also wondering why it took the Ministry of Agriculture this long, since February, to float this tender.
Early imports of duty-free wheat would have averted the bread price increases that were effected in April.
In the past four months, we have seen a spirited surge in the price of bread and wheat flour products. In February, a 400g loaf of bread was selling at Sh28. Now it is going for Sh35.
Bakers have attributed the price increase to escalating prices of wheat flour. Millers say there is a shortage of wheat flour but even if there was enough quantity in the market, global trends are pushing the prices beyond the reach of many.
Kenya produces 300,000 metric tonnes of wheat grain, but it needs 900,000 to satisfy requirements by millers.
With the surging prices, time is crucial and could save us millions of shillings if we went to the market early.
Local bread makers desperately need the duty-free imports to enable them to get low prices from the millers or importers.
The escalating prices have caused violent protests in some parts of Africa such as Senegal, Burkina Faso and Cameroon. Bread is considered a basic food item in many households. High bread prices may mean that many homes will go without breakfast.
It is, therefore, imperative that the government moves swiftly to allow for the full importation of the quantity of the wheat flour provided for in the Gazette Notice of February 2008 to avert the escalation of prices of bread and other food stuffs made from wheat flour.
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