Nyanza farmers yet to receive subsidised fertiliser as rainy season begins
Workers arrange bags of subsidized fertiliser at the National Cereals and Produce Board depot in Elburgon, Nakuru County, on February 27, 2023.
With some regions in Nyanza beginning to receive rains, farmers from the region are worried about delays in accessing the government-subsidised fertiliser.
The national government, through the local administration, registered farmers to receive the all-important commodity to boost food security in the country.
Farmers from Siranga in Ugenya, Siaya County said the delays would ultimately affect the harvest negatively.
“We were told by the chiefs and the assistant chiefs to register for the subsidised fertiliser, which, according to them, would be available before the planting season. Today we are still waiting for them. We have started receiving rains,” said Mr Nicholas Ouma, a farmer.
“If we don’t receive it in the next week, then it shall not help us,” he added.
A spot check by the Nation in Ugenya, Alego Usonga and parts of Rarieda established that most of the farmers have tilled their land in readiness for planting.
“The farms are ready; the only thing that is remaining is the fertiliser and the certified seeds that the government promised us. Our farms are our major sources of revenue and if we don’t plant on time we shall miss out,” said Mr Meshack Odhiambo from Ukwala in Ugenya.
The County Government of Siaya also initiated tractor services for vulnerable farmers to aid in tilling their farms.
Having come from a poor season that yielded very little, the farmers have had high hopes that fertilisers would be made available.
In the neighbouring Homa Bay County, 137,372 farmers who were registered to benefit from the subsidised fertilisers are still waiting.
Mr Charles Nyayiera, county director of Agriculture, said they were still waiting for the fertilisers to arrive at the government silos for the farmers to collect.
“So far, the county has not received it, but we hope that it will be available for the farmers to get and plant this season. The majority of residents of Homa Bay depend on fishing and farming as the major sources of livelihood,” he said.
The situation is the same in the highland counties of Nyamira and Kisii, where farmers also registered for fertilisers.
Mr Andrew Momanyi of Masaba North sub-county in Nyamira said most of the farmers had resorted to buying from the agro-vet shops.
“We cannot wait for the government any more. The rains are here and the meteorologists are saying it won’t last long. If we wait, then the rains will not benefit us. We have to buy the fertilisers from the dealers even though it is expensive,” he said in a phone interview.
In Migori County, however, the situation is different as the farmers began receiving the fertilisers from government cereals board depots.
Migori County Executive Member (CECM) for Agriculture Lucas Mosenda said there are currently four centers where farmers are receiving fertilisers.
“Migori County has since received the subsidised fertilisers and the farmers are in the process of receiving them from four different stations; there is a depot in Ntimaru, Migori Cereals board, Awendo, and Kehancha,” said Mr Mosenda.
Migori County had targeted registering 174,000 farmers in the registration exercise.
“We managed to register 130,000 farmers in all the eight sub-counties. The registration is still going on because we want to bridge the gap of 40,000 farmers. The county government aims to ensure the farmers get the maximum out of the farms,” he added.
Migori County Assembly Committee chair for Agriculture Felix Okwanyo faulted the process, saying farmers incurred a lot in the process of getting the subsidised fertiliser.
“The process needed to be structured well if we wanted to help the farmers. Imagine a farmer travelling from Muhuru Bay in Nyatike to Migori only to get a single bag of fertiliser? It ought to have been taken to them to save them on transport cost,” he complained.
He further called on the ministry of agriculture to work on ways of increasing the number of clerks serving the farmers, noting that the lines were too long to be served by one person.
“The farmers who registered are notified through a short message on their phones, for them to travel from the furthest corners of the county they reach late and, on many occasions, it forces them to spend a night or two in town. These are other costs that the majority incur as a result of looking for one bag of fertiliser. To some extent, getting the subsidised fertiliser is more expensive than buying it directly from vendors,” he stated.
Mr Okwanyo also called on the county government to consider increasing the amount of subsidised fertilisers, saying the quantity from the national government would not be enough for all the farmers.
