Shem Odhiambo, Export Trading Group Country Director, Kenya
NAIROBI, KENYA: The ambitious fertiliser subsidy launched in Kenya almost three years ago has been infiltrated by middlemen, leaving smallholder farmers at the pain of accessing the product at a high cost, analysts say.
It is alleged that the prised commodity, whose initial plan was to help small-scale farmers up their production through access to affordable fertiliser, is mainly benefiting largescale farmers.
"There is an urgent need for a targeted fertiliser subsidy so that only deserving cases can reap its full benefits. As it is today, unscrupulous traders are diverting the commodity to those who do not really need it," said Shem Odhiambo, the country director of Export Trading Group (ETG), a commodities and farm inputs supplier.
According to Odhiambo, if ensuring the fertiliser reaches small-scale farmers 'segment would prove a tall order to authorities, then policymakers can adopt the Egypt model where the government purchases produces from small-scale farmers at a relatively higher price without distorting the market fundamentals.
"As a matter of fact, generalised subsidy plan may fail in the long run," he said, adding: "The private sector can also supplement the work of the government in the supply of these fertilisers."
This way, he says, Kenya would not be experiencing erratic food supplies, which has in the past years compelled the government to import maize from other countries. This year, Mr Odhiambo says, the food security situation is a bit fluidy despite the country having received ample rainfall. This is due to the fact that there were problems of farmers in Eldoret and Kitale, Kenya's food basket, not applying the right fertilisers.
"We have heard of farmers in these two regions complaining that their crops have started turning yellow, a clear indication that the fertilisers used were of a substandard quality. To correct this problem immediately, it is prudent that the affected farmers apply Falcon Urea for topdressing," said the ETG boss.
This means come end of the year, Kenya may not attain the 42-million bags of maize target. This sorry state has been worsened by the negative effects of the MNLD disease in some parts of the Rift Valley and the reduced cultivation of maize, particularly in the South Rift.
More worrying is the rise in post-handling losses which analysts say average about 50 per cent of the total harvests. This, they say, has been due to the fact that there are limited driers in the country to mitigate against the problem. "Most of the harvesting times in Kenya coincide with the onset of short rains. As a result, this increases moisture content of the harvests ultimately creating a conducive environment for Aflatoxin to thrive," said Mr Mahesh Patel, the ETG Chairman.
Analysts say there is need for the private sector to come in and prop up the driers run by the government so as to stem the rising level of losses. Crucially, they say the government can zero-rate the drying machinery to enable private players engage in the drying of maize. Mr Patel says due to the fact that ETG's prime customer is the smallholder farmer; they are in the process of setting up multiple driers across the country to shield farmers from these losses. "Upon drying them, we will transport and store them in our warehouses," he said.
In a bid to address the recent challenge of farmers accessing low quality inputs as has happened in Kitale and Eldoret, ETG says it has fixed barcodes in its fertilisers as well as the Kenya Bureau of Standards' mark of quality. "This will not only keep the counterfeits out of the mark but also boost farm production," Mr Odhiambo said.
