Uproar as farmers protest government’s duty-free rice imports

Rice farmers have opposed the government's directive to import 500,000 metric tonnes of milled white rice, saying they have enough stock that could lower the current deficit. In a gazette that was issued on Tuesday, Treasury CS John Mbadi opened the duty-free window for imports, which will last up to the end of the year. The Ministry of Agriculture had, however, projected lower yields due to the recent erratic weather patterns, which affected the availability of water for irrigation as well as rain-fed production of rice.