NCPB holds onto fertiliser as it awaits directive on price
Workers offload bags of subsidised fertiliser from a lorry at the National Cereals and Produce Board depot in Elburgon, Nakuru County on August 5. Farmers say they are yet to access the commodity, which is supposed to be sold at Sh2,500 down from Sh3,500.
Farmers in the Rift Valley region are yet to access the new batch of government-subsidised fertiliser, two weeks after President William Ruto announced that prices had dropped to Sh2,500 per bag.
President Ruto said his government had reduced the prevailing prices of Sh3,500 by Sh1,000 per 50kg bag to boost agricultural production in the country. He said the government had spent Sh12 billion to subsidise fertiliser for farmers, who are expected to harvest 61 million bags of maize this year, up from 44 million bags last year.
A Nation spot check revealed that residents of Kericho, Bomet, Nakuru and Narok have been unable to access the fertiliser at the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) depots for the past week.
“We are waiting for a written directive on the revised prices of fertiliser,” said a senior manager at NCPB.
Mr Nelson Cheruiyot, a resident of Tegat in Bomet East sub-county, said he had tried twice without success to buy the fertiliser from NCPB depots in Mulot, Bomet, Ndani and Sotik.
“While the Bomet depot had no stock on Friday, the other three were not selling as the officers in charge said they had not received any communication from the head office on the new prices announced by the President,” Mr Cheruiyot said.
Ms Sharon Chepnetich, a farmer in Sogoo, Narok County, expressed fears that the short rains would end before she could access the fertiliser.
“We are appealing to the government to resume the sale of fertiliser immediately so that we can start planting food and cash crops to avert future shortages,” she said.
For the past week, the mid-year rains have been hit the area and farmers are trying to take advantage to plant various food and cash crops.
Farmers can only buy the number of bags of fertiliser allocated to them after registering through an e-procurement system set up by the government.
Dr Ruto said recently that his government will increase the importation of fertiliser from the current four million bags to eight million bags to meet demand.
