Two ships with the first consignment of Ukranian yellow maize for manufacturing animal feed are stuck at the port of Mombasa due to congestion two weeks since they docked.

About six millers have imported 74,150 tonnes of yellow maize and say the management of the port has communicated that the earliest they can offload is next week even as the cost of the commodity skyrockets.

The Association of Kenya Feeds Manufacturers (Akefema) has complained over the delay, saying it has pushed the price of feeds beyond the reach of many farmers.

A 70-kilogramme bag of layers mash is currently trading at an average Sh3,200 up from Sh2,800 in April while the same quantity of dairy meal is retailing at Sh2,300 from Sh2,000 two months ago.

The cheap imports were meant to ease pressure on expensive and scarce white maize that has seen the cost of animal feeds skyrocket in recent months.

Animal feed manufacturers are operating at half capacity, a situation that has seen some of their employees sent home for lack of raw material to process.

Millers have been banking on the yellow maize whose importation government cleared. It has taken long to get to the country since the duty was only waived three months ago.

The government ordered the importation of yellow maize to ease the pressure on the white produce. Animal feed is normally made from the white produce, a move that has worsened the current food situation in the country.

Why Ukraine now. They should have stuck to South Africa or Mexico.
The last time a commodity called powder milk was imported from Ukraine way back in 1994 it turned out to be radioactive. The government told us that the radioactive milk would be held in warehouses awaiting its destruction. A month later no radioactive milk had been destroyed and there was no radioactive milk in the warehouses!!!
I hope the yellow maize is not radio active, but I am very sure it will find its way into my plate.