NAIROBI, KENYA — To help ease a grain shortage in the country, Kenya’s National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) will release 600,000 bags of subsidized maize to grain millers, Business Daily reported.

Millers have so far received 400,000 bags and the rest will be dispatched soon. In May, the NCPB said it would release 3 million bags of maize worth $69 million. That release was delayed because of disputes between the board and the Strategic Food Reserve Committee.

Because of dwindling stocks, Kenyan officials had considered duty-free imports starting in July. It is unclear whether that will still happen with some government officials saying the plan had been scrapped and others saying it is still in place.

According to Zakayo Magara, acting managing director of the National and Cereals Board, the millers would receive the 3 million bags of grain in tranches of 40:40:30 so the government could monitor flour prices in the market.