Tea farmers to receive 97,000 metric tonnes of subsidy fertiliser

Workers load bags of fertiliser into a lorry at Kiganjo National Cereals and Produce Board depot in Nyeri County in April. [Kibata Kihu, Stanadard]

At least 650,000 smallholder tea farmers will receive 96,988 metric tonnes of subsidy fertiliser during the short rainy season projected to start in October.

Kennedy Ochwando, the head of procurement and logistics at the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA), said the first consignment of the bagged fertiliser is expected to arrive in the country this week.

Ochwado noted that last year, KTDA imported 92,737 metric tons of fertiliser.

He said that bulk importation of NPK fertiliser leverages economies of scale, enabling farmers to secure the fertiliser at the best possible price.

"By importing the fertiliser in bulk, KTDA can provide it at the best possible price to the smallholder tea farmers. We have continued to enjoy the benefits of economies of scale, which are then passed on to our farmers," he said.

The consignment is packed in 50 kg bags and loaded to freight trucks that KTDA has contracted to ferry the fertiliser to tea factories upcountry.

Ochwando said the quantity of fertiliser farmers receive is usually based on the number of tea bushes. On average, one 50 kg bag of fertiliser is applied on about 700 bushes.

"Every year, from November to December, KTDA field services staff take fertiliser requirement orders from farmers and KTDA uses this information to place import orders. Over the years, we have developed efficient distribution networks to deliver the fertiliser to the tea buying centres for distribution to tea farmers ahead of the short rains," he said.

In December 2023, the second consignment of more than 900,000 bags, totalling 45,232 metric tonnes of fertiliser arrived at the Port of Mombasa.

This followed the successful delivery of the first consignment of 956,000 bags of 50kgs (47,800 tonnes), which was received at the port and distributed to farmers in October 2023.

The NPK 26:5:5 chemically compounded fertiliser was procured directly from Russia and will be bagged at the port before distribution to the farmers.

KTDA said this arrangement allows smooth and efficient delivery to farmers to the closest tea buying centres which cuts extra transportation costs from the factory stores.

The cost of fertiliser has been negatively impacted by the rising cost of natural gas (a key component in the manufacture of NPK chemically compounded fertiliser), unfavourable exchange rates, global supply constraints, high crude oil costs and the cost of shipment among other factors.

The KTDA fertiliser credit scheme enables farmers to pay in installments over several months.