By MARYANNE GICOBI

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Maize moving from Uganda to Kenya has dipped in August to as low as 4.5 tonnes per day, down from highs of 500 tonnes per day in June-July.

An analysis by The EastAfrican of raw data from Ratin, a daily tracker of trade across the borders, shows that this month, 1,324 tonnes of maize came into Kenya from Uganda compared with 11,828 tonnes in July and 8,545 tonnes in June.

From June to mid-August, a total of 21,697 tonnes of maize moved from Uganda to Kenya and another 6,562 tonnes moved from Uganda to Rwanda.

Uganda has the lowest retail price for a tonne of maize in the region at $102 in upcountry towns and $122 in Kampala.

Burundi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam, in that order, have the highest prices for the grain which retails at $397, $380 and $307 per tonne respectively in the country capitals.

The largest bulk of maize from Uganda to Kenya came through the Busia border and a few tonnes came in through Malaba and Lwakhakha towns.

Tanzania also exports maize to Kenya but no Kenyan maize has been sold to Tanzania.

A total of 3,900 tonnes of maize came from Tanzania to Kenya through the Isebania border in June and July.

Tanzania last year lifted a ban on maize exports in an effort to curb practices that jeopardised food security such as pre-harvest sale of produce and to encourage value addition and promote the export of flour instead.

Data also shows that from March to June this year ,export of maize from the region dropped by 16 per cent because of a decline in supplies from Uganda.

Kenya is the main destination for maize from Uganda and Tanzania due to the attractive prices there.

Uganda exported 59,545 tonnes of maize to Kenya between March and June down from the 87,282 tonnes in January-March.