Tue 2 Feb 2010

 

WEEKLY RATIN’S GRAIN MARKET REPORT

Maize: Maize is a major staple in the region and in Kenya especially, a shortage in maize supply is still associated with hunger. There was still uncertainty over the extension of the duty waiver on maize imports moving into the last week of January. Meanwhile the prices of maize across the Eastern Africa region generally remained unchanged fetching a high of $412 in Dar and a relative low of $175 in Kampala. Maize prices have steadily remained at less than $200 in Kampala partly due to a relatively high bumper harvest in Uganda that ensured steady supply. In Kenya and Tanzania however, there have been reports of expected shortages due to poor harvests from the last season that were caused by failed rains.Beans: Uganda remains a key source of beans in the region. Strong demand for beans in Kenya for instance fueled increased cross border transactions. Bean prices however were the highest in Dar at almost double the Kampala price. Bean prices in Nairobi recorded modest changes of about 2.1% in the last week of January while prices remained unchanged in Mombasa. Rice prices averaged $962 with trading mainly in Tanzania and Kampala. The price of wheat ranged from a relative low of $410 in Nakuru to a high of $677 in Iringa maintaining relative stability from the previous two weeks’ price levels.Meanwhile reports indicate that Tanzania is facing a shortage of about 1.3 million tons of grain, according to the minister for Agriculture, Food Security and Cooperatives, Mr. Stephen Wasira.
He told reporters in Dar es Salaam that the information was obtained during an assessment conducted last December. The minister said during the 2008/2009 harvest season, the country collected 5,218,626 tons of grain which fell short of the country's requirement of 6,567,071 tons. He said the shortfall in harvests was caused by erratic weather conditions as some parts of the country, notably the southern highlands, which is the major grain producer, received little rains. He said rains were also little in the eastern parts of the country. But, the grain shortage notwithstanding, Mr. Wassira said the general food situation in the country was encouraging as statistics showed that Tanzania would enjoy a marginal surplus of food crops to be harvested at the end of the current farming season. He said the country projects to harvest 10,772,679 tons of food crops, while national needs stand at 10,569,845 tons per annum. "We are only experiencing grain deficit which is the main staple food to most Tanzanians, but generally, the situation is under control as data shows our total harvests of food crops will rise by 102 per cent," Mr. Wassira said.  

Meanwhile, confusion still lingers over the duty free window introduced a year ago by the Kenya government due to agitation by the populace in the face of soaring food prices. The situation threatened to go out of hand before the government stepped in with the duty waiver. It is however hoped that the customs union protocol adopted by the EAC will help ease the food situation by allowing for free movement of commodities across the region. The anticipated implementation of the Simplified Trade Regime (STR) by EAC and COMESA is also likely to enhance movement of goods across the region thus ensuring supply and possibly affordability of food commodities