Kenya maize deal: Will farmers get more than FRA payments?

He noted that increased export earnings could also strengthen the government’s ability to pay farmers for maize already purchased, reducing pressure to rely heavily on borrowing to meet agricultural obligations.

“If government exports and generates income, it means it can have enough money to pay farmers who still have produce to sell, unlike a situation where government is borrowing from banks while farmers wait for their payments, and that kind of cycle can help improve the economy,” said Mapanza.

However, the LCU Chairperson said farmers should not necessarily expect a fixed percentage of export proceeds because international maize transactions are structured differently from direct farmer payments “Economically, it does not work like that because international business has requirements to meet, and government has the capacity to export from one country to another while smallscale farmers support that process by supplying the required stocks,” he said.

Mapanza said the more direct benefit to farmers would therefore come through stronger government purchasing capacity, expanded markets, and increased production opportunities created by regional demand.

“The same money government earns from exports will trickle down to the farmer because it can be used to buy more maize from small-scale farmers, meaning the farmer supports government by producing while government helps the farmer by exporting and earning foreign exchange,” he said.

Article by Philip Sinkala