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Farming in Kenya
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murchr
#1 Posted : Monday, July 09, 2018 6:03:33 PM
Rank: Elder

Joined: 2/26/2012
Posts: 15,980
Why do we have parastatals like NCPB catering just for Maize and not beans and ndengu?

I understand Kitui has a glut of ndengu (about 20000 tonne) a kilo is now going for 30/- as opposed to the normal 100/-

Surely, are we such poor planners? Even the wisdom of the biblical Joseph during the drought of Egypt is too complex for us?

Why do we go political on food?




"There are only two emotions in the market, hope & fear. The problem is you hope when you should fear & fear when you should hope: - Jesse Livermore
.
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kawi254
#2 Posted : Monday, July 09, 2018 6:47:21 PM
Rank: Member

Joined: 2/20/2015
Posts: 468
Location: Nairobi
murchr wrote:
Why do we have parastatals like NCPB catering just for Maize and not beans and ndengu?

I understand Kitui has a glut of ndengu (about 20000 tonne) a kilo is now going for 30/- as opposed to the normal 100/-

Surely, are we such poor planners? Even the wisdom of the biblical Joseph during the drought of Egypt is too complex for us?

Why do we go political on food?






The Indian market is not the real issue. India limits imports to avoid the 'ndengu' price from crashing hence un-profitable for It's farmers - who are known to commit suicide on a bad harvest year...


Sufficient long rains + planning by Kitui county (i.e distributing Ndengu seeds before the rains ) resulted in bumper harvest.

At you local retail Kiosk/supermarket Ndengu is still ~100/kg. Every bumper harvest season [once in 3-4 years] the broker (a capitalist) will take advantage on the cash strapped farmer who hasn't had a harvest in as many years and will sell at any price. Storing has costs and risks and your average subsistence farmer can't. In November 2018 the price of Ndengu will be +100/Kg. Someday i will build silos and a guaranteed 70% gain in 4 months is fathomable...better than NSE stocks yield

*** I have farmed Ndengu 2015/2016 and managed to ferry to Nairobi retailers @90/kg in a glut period but i am privileged middle class with a car
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murchr
#3 Posted : Monday, July 09, 2018 7:05:57 PM
Rank: Elder

Joined: 2/26/2012
Posts: 15,980
Why do we have silos catering for maize sustained by the exchequer but not legumes (beans, peas, ndengu,) Rice, wheat etc. To me it seems very unfair. Where is the local leadership focus?.
"There are only two emotions in the market, hope & fear. The problem is you hope when you should fear & fear when you should hope: - Jesse Livermore
.
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tycho
#4 Posted : Monday, July 09, 2018 7:25:02 PM
Rank: Elder

Joined: 7/1/2011
Posts: 8,804
Location: Nairobi
murchr wrote:
Why do we have silos catering for maize sustained by the exchequer but not legumes (beans, peas, ndengu,) Rice, wheat etc. To me it seems very unfair. Where is the local leadership focus?.


Maybe it's because there hasn't been a political pressure group to champion for these.

Politics is also about making forces to be felt and responded to.
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Gathige
#5 Posted : Monday, July 09, 2018 8:20:57 PM
Rank: Elder

Joined: 3/29/2011
Posts: 2,242
The Ndengu glut exposes the dangers of production subsidies. The overproduction was due to subsidized farming through seeds and other inputs thus producing at below market costs. Retailers may have bought supplies at higher prices and may still be holding the higher prized stocks and now not able to absorb the cheap produce.

Best option now would be for the county Gov to buy all the Ndengus and store to cushion the farmers am doing then market when market forces improves.
"Things that matter most must never be at the mercy of things that matter least." Goethe
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Njunge
#6 Posted : Monday, July 09, 2018 8:29:25 PM
Rank: Elder

Joined: 2/7/2007
Posts: 921
Gathige wrote:
The Ndengu glut exposes the dangers of production subsidies. The overproduction was due to subsidized farming through seeds and other inputs thus producing at below market costs. Retailers may have bought supplies at higher prices and may still be holding the higher prized stocks and now not able to absorb the cheap produce.

Best option now would be for the county Gov to buy all the Ndengus and store to cushion the farmers am doing then market when market forces improves.


Good idea but does the county government have storage capacity? Why not the National government??..........and this brings forth an idea Jimnah has fought to have for a long time. Commodity Exchange!! It's done the world over. Why not in KE?
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hardwood
#7 Posted : Monday, July 09, 2018 8:41:35 PM
Rank: Elder

Joined: 7/28/2015
Posts: 9,562
Location: Rodi Kopany, Homa Bay
Why should we complain when we produce more food? Just give the farmers actellic super pesticide grain storage dust to mix with the ndengu to protect from weevils and they can be releasing to the market pole pole throughout the yr and make good cash. A 90 kg ndengu bag worth 9000 bob needs only a 50g satchet that costs only 50 bob.
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  | | Edit by user: Monday, July 09, 2018 8:44 PM | Reason: Not specified
murchr
#8 Posted : Monday, July 09, 2018 8:43:46 PM
Rank: Elder

Joined: 2/26/2012
Posts: 15,980
Njunge wrote:
Gathige wrote:
The Ndengu glut exposes the dangers of production subsidies. The overproduction was due to subsidized farming through seeds and other inputs thus producing at below market costs. Retailers may have bought supplies at higher prices and may still be holding the higher prized stocks and now not able to absorb the cheap produce.

Best option now would be for the county Gov to buy all the Ndengus and store to cushion the farmers am doing then market when market forces improves.


Good idea but does the county government have storage capacity? Why not the National government??..........and this brings forth an idea Jimnah has fought to have for a long time. Commodity Exchange!! It's done the world over. Why not in KE?



Exactly! The prices would be somewhat regulated but that would cushion the farmer.

At what price would the county govt buy the ndegu having supplied the seed in the first place? Farmers want Ngilu to purchase at 100/- is that sustainable?

We would not be having this maize drama year in year out if a commodities exchange existed now Rotich is releasing 1.4B to pay maize farmers, can Kitui MPs approach him to buy ndegu too?
"There are only two emotions in the market, hope & fear. The problem is you hope when you should fear & fear when you should hope: - Jesse Livermore
.
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hardwood
#9 Posted : Monday, July 09, 2018 8:54:43 PM
Rank: Elder

Joined: 7/28/2015
Posts: 9,562
Location: Rodi Kopany, Homa Bay
All commodity prices are subject to supply vs demand forces. From oil to NSE shares to coffee to maize to ndengu. What we need to do is to free the maize sector from cartels who benefit from the NCPB shenanigans. Let maize, wheat, ndengu etc farmers store and release their produce to the market at the right time. Instead of them expecting us to subsidize them.
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Gathige
#10 Posted : Monday, July 09, 2018 9:23:42 PM
Rank: Elder

Joined: 3/29/2011
Posts: 2,242
murchr wrote:
Njunge wrote:
Gathige wrote:
The Ndengu glut exposes the dangers of production subsidies. The overproduction was due to subsidized farming through seeds and other inputs thus producing at below market costs. Retailers may have bought supplies at higher prices and may still be holding the higher prized stocks and now not able to absorb the cheap produce.

Best option now would be for the county Gov to buy all the Ndengus and store to cushion the farmers am doing then market when market forces improves.


Good idea but does the county government have storage capacity? Why not the National government??..........and this brings forth an idea Jimnah has fought to have for a long time. Commodity Exchange!! It's done the world over. Why not in KE?



Exactly! The prices would be somewhat regulated but that would cushion the farmer.

At what price would the county govt buy the ndegu having supplied the seed in the first place? Farmers want Ngilu to purchase at 100/- is that sustainable?

We would not be having this maize drama year in year out if a commodities exchange existed now Rotich is releasing 1.4B to pay maize farmers, can Kitui MPs approach him to buy ndegu too?


A Commodity exchange would need a real sizeable produce volumes. We barely produce enough for consumption leave alone to trade. The maize at NCPB may be like 3 months reserves, hence nothing for trade. Sugar we basically have nothing and even Ndengus we eat are from neighboring countries and this is a one off glut considering this is a 90 days crop.
"Things that matter most must never be at the mercy of things that matter least." Goethe
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