250 000 tonnes of maize smuggled to Kenya

15 March 2010, The Citizen
URL: http://www.thecitizen.co.tz/news/4-national-news/644-250000-tonnes-of-maize-smuggled-to-kenya.html

Dar es Salaam: The East African Grain Council (EAGC) said yesterday that nearly 250,000 tonnes of maize were smuggled to Kenya from Tanzania in the last harvesting season.  

Speaking to reporters, the EAGC’s director, Dr Ben Mushi said the 250,000 tonnes were exported to Kenya illegally by smugglers who always buy maize directly from farmers in Tanzanian villages.  He said the record that is available in Tanzania shows that the country had sold only 4,000 tonnes of maize to Kenya during the period. 

"Our records here show that we have sold only 4,000 tonnes of maize to our neighbours Kenyans, but the  record in Kenya shows that at least 250,000 tonnes of maize were imported to Kenya from Tanzania, this is to say the government has benefited from only 4,000 tonnes and lost 246,000 tonnes,” explained Dr Mushi.  

He said the trend was not astonishing as Tanzania farmers lack reliable market to sell their agriculture produce and that was why traders could easily cajole them into selling their produce to them even at cheap prices.  According to Dr Mushi, the government was providing a very minimum budget to the nation Strategic grain Reserve (SGR) that enables it to buy only 120,000 tonnes of grain annually.  

“The national food reserve can buy only 120,000 tonnes of food every year, but farmers produce millions of tonnes every season, so they have to find alternative market and when the government bans export of cereals, this is the result,” h said.  

He said EAGC has asked the government through the East African Community common market to allow farmers to sell their agriculture produce freely in the region so that they could earn more from their work.  

Last year, the Kenyan Minister for agriculture, Mr William Ruto on behalf on of President Mwai Kibaki asked President Jakaya Kikwete to allow Kenya to buy maize from Tanzania following a 2008/2009 drought that hit several parts of the country.  According to Dr Mushi, Kenya had asked to buy at least 180,000 tonnes of maize from Tanzania.