Members of Parliament are pushing to allocate an additional Sh250 million to the Kenya National Trading Corporation (KNTC) to protect rice farmers from losses after the Treasury cut funding for the agency’s grain purchase programme amid rising dependence on imported rice.
The National Assembly’s Departmental Committee on Trade, Industry and Cooperatives said the extra allocation in the financial year starting July 2026 would finance a rice mop-up programme to cushion farmers from post-harvest losses and stabilise earnings.
