State releases a million bags of fertilizer to ease shortages

Muoki Charles-KNA

Farmers will have sufficient fertilizer as the long rain continues amid concerns that the stocked fertilizers at the cereal boards may not meet the demand.

National Fertilizer Technical Committee Chairman Haron Khator says at least 1 million bags of fertilizer have been released from the Mombasa Port for onward upcountry delivery.

He said the government has also ordered importation of an additional 1.5 million metric tons of fertilizer, he said.

Khator, who is also the Administration Secretary, State Department for Agriculture, spoke when he conducted the inspection of the Thika National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) stores in Kiambu County.

Khator said capping the number of bags of subsidized fertilizer that a farmer should purchase at the cereals board helps in streamlining distribution and weed out cartels who might buy many bags to sell at higher prices.

"Limiting the number of bags to purchase at the cereals board is not an indicator of shortage of fertilizer but rather to streamline distribution. We have adequate stocks to push us to the next planting season," Khator said.

He at the same time acknowledged challenges of the slow pace of releasing fertilizer to the farmers, attributing it to the huge demand by farmers.

To mitigate the situation, he said NCPB has employed more staff on a casual basis at the NCPB distribution centres to help to release fertilizer to farmers.

"We know farmers have highlighted concerns of slow pace of distribution of this fertilizer but sometimes the NCPB staff get overwhelmed by the large turnout of farmers waiting to get the fertilizer. We have increased the manpower, and we hope this will be addressed," he said.

He said NCPB is also working with other agencies to ensure no fake fertilizer is reported in the market.

Khator advised farmers not to panic if they come across fertilizer of different colours from the ones they have been used to, saying through research, new fertilizer of different blends is being manufactured.

"The tests and analysis on the fertilizer are thorough to ensure we have high quality fertilizer released to the farmers. We also ask the farmers to report any incident they come across of fake fertilizer. Do not panic when you come across fertilizer of different colours to those you are used to. We have new brands blended for various crops and functions," he explained.

The farmers, led by Patrick Njui, while appreciating the affordable fertilizer selling at Sh2,500 for 50-kilogram bag from government stores, said they (farmers) have been waiting for weeks to receive their share.

Many also complained that they are getting fewer bags of the commodity than they expect.

They hoped the incentive by the government will boost their farming fortunes, saying since the introduction of the subsidized fertilizer, they have been getting higher yields.

"We ask the NCPB to ensure the process is fast. We have camped here for days seeking to access the fertilizer to no avail. These delays have affected our planting preparation, and we ask the process to be well streamlined in coming planting seasons," Njui said.