Senator Ledama Olekina criticizes government's maize import plan, citing agricultural policy failures
Senator Ledama Olekina has publicly criticized the Kenyan government's decision to import 25 million bags of maize, calling it a failure of agricultural policy. His comments followed an announcement by Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe on August 18, who stated that Kenya faces a significant maize deficit due to drought and adverse climatic conditions. Kagwe indicated that Kenya consumes approximately 75 million bags of maize annually, with production expected to fall short by about 25 million bags. Senator Olekina argued that the deficit stems from structural weaknesses, including low irrigation coverage, with only about 3% of Kenya's arable land irrigated, leaving the majority dependent on rainfall. He also accused the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service KEPHIS of hindering agricultural innovation by taking up to four years to register new seed varieties, thereby preventing drought-tolerant seeds from reaching farmers. Olekina called for aggressive irrigation, water reservoirs in every county, and urgent reform of seed registration.
