Kenya: State pushes for blended flour to reduce reliance on maize

Published 2023년 5월 11일

Tridge summary

Kenya's new government, under the Kenya Kwanza administration, is planning to diversify the country's staple food by introducing blended maize flour with other grains such as cassava, millet, sorghum, and amaranth. This initiative is aimed at reducing over-reliance on maize and addressing nutritional deficiencies. The plan, announced by the Agriculture principal secretary Harsama Kello, builds on a similar effort by the Jubilee administration in 2018 that failed due to a lack of public awareness. The government also intends to promote sorghum farming in semi-arid regions to enhance food security. Kenya Breweries Limited (KBL) is supporting smallholder farmers with agricultural training and resources to improve yields and combat climate change effects, as it sources sorghum and barley from local farmers for brewing.

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Original content

Kenya has renewed plans to blend maize flour with cassava, millet, sorghum or amaranth in a bid to stem over-reliance on the staple and address malnutrition. Agriculture principal secretary Harsama Kello said on Wednesday the Kenya Kwanza administration is working on a policy concerning blended maize flour that will be made public soon. A similar attempt was made by the Jubilee administration in 2018 but fizzled out amid a call for public awareness before rollout. Read: Flour price to remain high as State fails to get cheap maize “In our strategy to shape our food policy, we are going to blend the Ugali we are eating in this country to have a mix of millet, sorghum, amaranth and cassava very soon,” Mr Kello told an agriculture forum organised by the Kenya Breweries Limited (KBL). Over the recent past, the prices of maize shot up sharply on the back of delays in importation and competition for limited supply between millers and the humanitarian agencies for the little available ...

Source: Businessdailyafrica