Fertiliser plant set for opening in August

More than 300 locals will benefit from employment when a fertiliser plant based in Uasin Gishu County becomes operational.

According to Tsusho Toyota officials, a company that is constructing the facility funded by the Kenyan government to establish the first fertiliser blending plant, more than 40 locals will work as machine operators.

Tsusho East Africa began putting up the plant worth Sh103 billion and is expected to produce 150,000 metric tonnes of fertiliser upon completion, with prices of the commodity expected to significantly drop. Speaking at the site during an assessment tour of the plant in Ngeria, Toyota Tsusho Senior Managing Director and the Chief regional officer for Pan Africa, Takishi Hattori said they are optimistic of beating the August 1, 2016 deadline.

He said the plant is nearly complete and anticipates to start production of the first batch of 400 bags per day. “We shall be producing packages of 50kg, 25kg and 10kg fertilisers of Baraka brand which will meet the needs of farmers in the Rift and Western part besides the rest of the country,” he said. Hattori said the facility will produce 150,000 tonnes a year.

“Based on our assessment, we are confident that the blending plant shall be operational in a month’s time. Farmers in the country will start acquiring subsidised fertiliser based on soil specification,” he said.  “The plant is designed in such a way no mistakes can occur because of its computerised systems.”

Crop productivity

Toyota EA Chairperson Dennis Awori said the input will be soil and crop specific. He said farmers will be required to conduct soil sampling as they acquire fertilisers. “We want to ensure the fertiliser is tailored to a given region and it will be an end to poor yields because the input shall be available at favourable costs,” he added.

Awori observed that besides employment, farmers shall also benefit from training and capacity building courtesy of the facility. “Besides closing in on skill gap, we will work towards ensuring that farmers get service for their money,” he noted.

Uasin Gishu Governor Jackson Mandago who was present during the visit said the availability of fertiliser will increase crop productivity. “Tea, wheat, maize, cane and flower farmers in the region are best placed to make use of Baraka fertiliser in improving their livelihoods,” he said. He was categorical that Sh92 million has been set aside for the input subsidy, an increase from Sh47 million earlier budgeted.

“Thirty per cent of our farmers have not been using fertilisers due to the high cost of purchase and end up with meager returns. Locals need to raise their farm income,” he said. Mandago noted that the region has sufficient workforce who are well positioned to provide manpower for the plant.

Kenya Farmers Association (KFA) Director Kipkorir Menjo challenged farmers to join cooperatives to acquire inputs jointly at subsidised costs. “The delay of farm input will be a thing of the past now that we have the facility at our disposal Farmers should now be focused on using the input for their benefit,” he said.