Do Farmers Really Benefit from High Food Prices? Balancing Rural Interest in Kenya's Maize Pricing and Marketing Policy

This paper uses information from rural household surveys in 24 districts in Kenya to inform current debate on maize pricing policy. Specifically, it sheds light on how rural farm households are being affected by governmental efforts to support maize price levels. Using information on landed import costs of white maize from South Africa with and without the import tariff, it simulates the effects of eliminating the tariff on rural smallholder farmers, large-scale farmers, and urban consumers. It then examines the implications of these findings for the design of strategies to promote agricultural productivity and rural income growth