Kenya’s Corn Crop Large Enough to Meet Needs, Won’t Import Grain
Johnstone Ole Turana, Bloomberg, 25 January, 2012
NAIROBI, Kenya - Kenya’s corn harvest is sufficient to meet national demand and the country won’t import the grain this year, according to the agriculture ministry.“We expect 2.34 million tons by the end of the harvest period in February and we have no plan to import corn,” said Romano Kiome, permanent secretary for the ministry. “We expect higher production during the long-rains season of March-May.”
Annual demand is 3.24 million metric tons, Kiome said today in Nairobi. Kenya has two rainy seasons, the long-rains from March to May and short-rains from September to November. The government plans to raise its strategic grain reserve to 360,000 tons, Kiome said, compared with about 234,000 tons currently