Kenya could face a cereal deficit following erratic rains and dry conditions in major growing belts in the country, a UN food agency said Saturday in its latest report.
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization said cereal production in Kenya will decline by about 11 percent compared to last year.
According to the agency, the most affected areas include south- eastern and coastal marginal agricultural livelihood zones, where the delayed onset of rains resulted in considerably delayed planting, and a dry spell in November 2013 that led to poor crop development.
"In these areas, where the short rain crops account for up to 65 percent of the total annual crop production, the maize output is likely to be considerably below average," said the report.
According to early estimates, the seasonal maize production is expected to be about 40 to 50 percent below average.
UN National Food Security Officer Simon Muhindi said they had contributed 280,000 U.S dollars towards the food security assessment. The country's over 40 million people consume nearly 4 million 90kg bags of maize a month.
Maize prices in January were between 9 and 12 percent higher than 12 months earlier. However, imports from neighboring Uganda and Tanzania mitigated the upward pressure on prices of the reduced domestic availability.
