• In Kisumu, the e-voucher fertiliser programme is being piloted in Ombeyi and East Kano Wawidhi wards.
• Agriculture chief officer Paul Omanga said farmers are required to pay 60 per cent of the cost of fertiliser. The remaining 40 per cent will be paid by the county government.
Farmers in Kisumu have been urged to register for the Sh50 million e-voucher fertiliser programme to boost yields.
Agriculture executive Gilchrist Okuom said the e-voucher will reduce cases of subsidised fertiliser being sold in the market.
“We had cases where someone is given fertiliser but you find it being sold in the market instead of being used in their farms,” he said.
In Kisumu, the e-voucher fertiliser programme is being piloted in Ombeyi and East Kano Wawidhi wards
Agriculture chief officer Paul Omanga said farmers are required to pay 60 per cent of the total cost of the fertiliser. The remaining 40 per cent will be paid by the county government.
“Farmers are required to register at the ward level and make payment through M-Pesa. After the registration, they are expected to present the transaction message to agrodealers to pick the fertiliser,” he said.
Omanga dismissed reports over unfair distribution of fertiliser across the county, saying the e-voucher programme was being piloted in only three wards.
He said they are focused on ensuring farmers have access to productivity enhancement inputs such as certified seeds, fertilisers and pesticides.
On sustainable productivity, Okuom said the county has put in place stringent measures to transform the agriculture and livestock sector with the aim of creating agribusiness and value food chains.
“One of the items in Governor Anyang Nyong’o's manifesto is creating agribusiness and opportunities along the agriculture value chains,” he said.
Okuom said three years ago the county was a gross importer of many food items, both horticultural and livestock, but this has changed through innovative ways of production.
Under livestock production, he said, the county has made tremendous efforts by ensuring that residents move away from rearing traditional cattle only.
“We had to change the kind of animals that our people can rear,” the CEC said.
Okuom said they have procured 45 dairy cows with a budget of Sh5.6 million to enhance milk and meat productivity within the county.
Edited by A.N