An acute shortage of top dressing fertiliser at National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) depots in the North Rift region has raised concern among farmers who have been visiting the facilities without success.
Hundreds of farmers staged protests at the NCPB depot in Eldoret over delays in the supply of fertiliser despite earlier assurances that deliveries would be made early enough to avert the current situation.
However, NCPB North Rift manager Gilbert Rotich assured farmers that additional supplies of top dressing fertiliser were on the way to the region.
The farmers, led by Jane Kwambai, said they had been visiting NCPB depots for the past two weeks without success, as the CAN fertiliser used for top dressing maize in the high-producing counties was unavailable.
“We are now frustrated because NCPB officials have been promising that the fertiliser will be delivered, but so far nothing has arrived, yet we are spending a lot on transport and other costs that could be avoided,” she said.
Another farmer, Duncan Sanchez, said it was surprising that during the planting season NCPB had abundant stocks of top dressing fertiliser, which was not required at the time.
“Now that we need top dressing fertiliser, the NCPB depots have more supplies of fertiliser for planting, which we really do not require in huge quantities at the moment. We are asking the government to do something,” he said.
Sanchez warned that delays in supplying top dressing fertiliser could negatively affect maize production, as many farmers risk crop losses in terms of quality.
“We now have the rains and we need to apply the top dressing fertiliser, otherwise we will waste the maize crops we have on our farms,” he said.
He said farmers had been lining up at NCPB depots day and night without obtaining supplies.
Stephen Korat, a farmer from Elgeyo Marakwet county, said the subsidised top dressing fertiliser costs Sh2,500 per 50kg bag, but farmers were incurring double that amount in transport and related expenses while searching for the commodity.
He urged President William Ruto to intervene and ensure farmers receive fertiliser within the week, warning of possible protests if the situation persists.
“We are demanding that Ruto acts with the same speed on the fertiliser issue as he did in ensuring that the Wajir Stadium was completed within a few days to host the recent Madaraka Day celebrations,” Korat said.
Farmers’ spokesperson Kipkorir Menjo said the government should prioritise the adequate supply of farm inputs such as fertiliser to sustain high food production.
NCPB manager Gilbert Rotich said farmers in the region had so far received more than 3.27 million bags of top dressing fertiliser, with additional supplies on the way.
“We are on course to ensure that farmers can access adequate fertiliser for both planting and top dressing. The government has engaged suppliers to speed up the delivery of top dressing fertiliser so that we do not experience further shortages,” he said.
