Over 7,000 tonnes of fertiliser impounded at the Mombasa port

Over 7,000 tonnes of fertiliser are lying uncollected at the Mombasa port after the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB), which imported it from China, rejected a portion of it claiming it is sub-standard.

The move has led to a standoff between NCPB and the captain of the ship containing the cargo which docked on May 14 and remains moored at the port. Yesterday, NCPB confirmed it stopped a ship from releasing Government-subsidised fertiliser to farmers over its "disputable" quality.

The standoff has attracted the attention of the National Assembly's agriculture committee that is on a retreat at the Sarova Whitesands Beach Resort in Mombasa. The MPs said farmers were complaining about cheap and sub-standard fertiliser.

Vice chairman Kareke Mbiuki, Mumias East MP Benjamin Washiali and Nyando MP Fred Outa said importation of sub-standard fertiliser had "become a norm and is contributing to food insecurity in the country". They said the national and county governments disregard quality.

Mr Washiali said a consignment of fertiliser suspected to be substandard has been impounded at berth number 17 at the port by the Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs). "The agricultural sector policy should address this problem to protect farmers," Washiali said.

But, NCPB said it stopped the discharge of the consignment on Thursday last week because it was caked and suspected to have gone bad. According to NCPB Coast Region Manager Lamech Oyugi Okumu, Kebs had taken samples for testing.

He said the vessel had 7,260 tonnes of fertiliser and the suspect lot was discovered after 5,000 tonnes of good quality had already been offloaded.

According to NCPB, an analysis by Intertek Testing Services of Mombasa show the remaining batch had a moisture content of 1.7 per cent instead of 1.5 per cent and it was lumpy.

"At the time of stopping the discharge, NCPB had offloaded 5,000 metric tonnes of the commodity out of a total consignment of 7,260 metric tonnes which was part of the additional 2,100 metric tonnes of government of Kenya subsidised planting fertiliser that had been received earlier," said NCPB in a statement.

Washiali said the committee would visit the port and inspect the import documents and establish the commodity's source and the people behind the consignment.

water effects

Outa claimed the importation of cheap fertiliser followed heavy importation of sub-standard sugar that has demoralised farmers threatening food security in the country. "As MPs we are interested in knowing the godfathers of these importers," Outa said.

Mbiuki said: "We want the agricultural sector policy under discussion to protect the country from sub-standard commodities. While in Mombasa we will visit the port and assess the fertiliser consignment and ascertain its quality," Mbiuki said.

He said the agricultural policy might necessitate major amendments to existing Acts of Parliament to help step up food production.

The preliminary analysis showed that all other parameters were within the required standards, NCPB said.

"The voyage from China took about a month and it is suspected the cooling effects of the water could have led to hardening of the fertiliser in hatch two of the ship," Okumu said.

According to Okumu, the cargo had been inspected and confirmed to be in good quality by a Kebs agent in China and the ship master was now being held responsible for its current state. Okumu said in March NCPB imported another 32,000 tonnes of subsidised NPK fertiliser from China.

NCPB Corporate Affairs Manager Rose Andanje said in a statement the board's principal insurers of the consignment in question have since then commissioned a laboratory analysis of the fertiliser to establish its suitability for use.

Mv Locomotive reportedly arrived at the port with total of 17,000 tonnes of fertiliser on board. The other consignment belonged to another importer and was not disputed, officials said.

Acting Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Adan Mohamed denied knowledge of the impounded vessel but noted that the national government was importing subsidised fertiliser for farmers through the NCPB to ensure food security.

On the agricultural sector policy under discussion, the CS said it addresses food security, irrigation, land and water use, safe biotechnology, child labour and post-harvest losses.

"The policies have been formulated in line with relevant provisions of the Constitution and provide a clear roadmap to the realisation of Vision 2030's agricultural goals and targets. They identify current challenges and outline suitable guidelines to address them," said the CS.

Mohamed expressed concern over continued land fragmentation, and said setting aside large tracts of land and putting it under irrigation such as the Galana-Kulalu project should address food insecurity threats.