By Nicholas Waitathu

NAIROBI,kENYA:Tender dispute between cereals board and a supplier has worsened the situation for farmers hit by destructive floods

Fresh after the destructive flash floods, a tender row between National Cereals and a supplier has delayed delivery of top dressing fertiliser — piling more misery on farmers and making the country’s food situation worse.

This is only the latest hiccup in a flawed supply chain that has seen farmers perennially pay more for a commodity that is heavily subsidised by the Government.

A farmers’ lobby is now warning that the country risks serious food insecurity unless the row between Erad Company and the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) is resolved.

Frozen accounts

The Board’s operations, including distribution of fertiliser, have been crippled following a suit that seen its accounts frozen.

Erad is demanding over Sh520 million from NCPB — a claim that is now before the courts.

The Government already delayed supplying small-scale farmers with subsidised fertilisers in March. A few farmers resorted to private stockists, who charged exorbitant prices, while others made do without the commodity at all — spelling doom for an entire planting season.

Acknowledging the challenge, NCPB Managing Director Gideon Misoi said these delays have in the past forced farmers to reduce their acreage as the cost of farm inputs skyrocketed.

And just as farmers looked like they were crawling out of the woods, flashfloods hit many parts of the country the last two months, washing away hundreds of acres of crops just as they were germinating.

Early this month, the ministry of Agriculture began taking stock of the scale of destruction with a view to compensating the farmers.

But these are not the only challenges NCPB is facing.

Logistical problems

Kipkorir Menjo, a farmer in Rift Valley, says the board has huge logistical problems in ensuring that inputs reach farmers on time.

National Potato Council of Kenya (NPCK) Chief Executive Wachira Kaguongo noted the delay in fertiliser disbursement has denied farmers an opportunity to plant in time as well as reduced the acreage under food crops.

“The State perennially fails to supply farmers with fertiliser on time, seriously affecting food production in the country,” Kaguongo said in a phone interview yesterday.

Echoing Kaguongo’s sentiments, the new Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Felix Kosgey last week decried the cyclic delays in procurement of a commodity critical to the country’s food security.

“These delays hurt farmers, and by extension the state of food security in the country,” he said, while taking over the ministry last week.

The Government imports thousands of tonnes of maize to plug the annual deficit and feed its growing population.

This is despite findings that tout the country as being capable of becoming not only a net food producer, but also an exporter.

Farmers produce 36 million and 40 million bags of maize, against a consumption of more than 41 million bags.