Beware of scams to steal cheap fertilizer

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Reports of arrests over a minor fertiliser scam at the Agricultural Development Corporation are encouraging. We hope the tardiness in conducting bank reconciliations that led to a Sh30 million loss is no longer in evidence.

But since Kenya is rolling out the largest fertiliser import programme in years, such incidents should flag the threat of massive diversion of subsidised inputs to Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda. Or just massive thefts by the cartels behind the maize scandals.

Last year, Agriculture Minister William Ruto announced that the Government was planning to import more than 150,000 tonnes of fertiliser to be sold to farmers at a 40 per cent discount. The exercise is expected to cost more than Sh11 billion. Coming shortly after a flawed programme to give consumers cheap maize meal in which hundreds of millions, possibly billions, are thought to have been wasted, we need close scrutiny of the distribution and use of the subsidised inputs. Trans Nzoia and Uasin Gishu, for instance, are known for diversion.

Convenience

It is not enough for the Ministry of Agriculture to show it has a system to identify genuine farmers approaching ADC, Kenya Seed or National Cereals and Produce Board. Or that a team was formed to crack down on diversions.

It must also show there is no skewing of the system in favour of the politically connected and that farmers allocated subsidised fertiliser actually use it to grow maize. With farmers often using half the recommended amounts, greater vigilance is needed.