• Farmers have warned of a possible drop in maize production by more than 30 per cent
• Failure to import fertiliser has caused many farmers to cut down production due to high cost of farm inputs
Image: MATHEWS NDANYI
Rift Valley farmers have asked Agriculture CS Mwangi Kiunjuri to explain why the government failed to use Sh4.5 billion approved by Parliament to buy subsidised fertiliser.
The farmers said failure to import the fertiliser has caused many of them to cut down maize production due to high costs of farm inputs.
The farmers have warned of a possible drop in maize production by 10 million bags from the usual 42 million annually.
Moiben MP Sila Tiren met farmers' representatives in Eldoret and accused the CS of undermining the country’s food security through flawed policies that frustrate farmers.
“As MPs, we passed a budget of Sh4.5 billion for importation of fertiliser but Kiunjuri and his team failed to organise for the importation thus leaving farmers at the mercy of traders”, Tiren said.
Most farmers have been buying fertiliser from traders at Sh3,200 or more after the government halted importation of subsidised fertiliser due to problems in procumbent.
Kiunjuri had explained that procurement procedures could not allow the government to import the fertiliser on time. However, Tiren said they were not satisfied with the explanation because the government had adequate time to plan the importation.
The farmers have warned of a possible drop in maize production by more than 30 per cent due to high costs of farm inputs and the bad weather caused by delayed rain.
The majority of maize farmers especially in the high producing areas of North Rift had already done dry planting as they waited for rain but the low rainfall which started last week will lead to poor production in many areas.
“Many of us carried out dry planting because we anticipated rain to come by late March as is the usual case but the rains delayed and will affect production”, said farmer Jonah Koech who had planted maize on his 130 acres at Kiplombe on the outskirts of Eldoret.
The farmers in Trans Nzoia, Uasin Gishu, Nandi and other maize producing areas now fear that they may incur heavy losses as a result of the bad weather and lack of subsidised fertiliser.
Farmers' representatives at the meeting also included director of Kenya Farmers Association Kipkorir Menjo and Joseph Amdanyi.
Uasin Gishu county executive for Agriculture Samwel Yego said they anticipate maize production will drop drastically because of the frustrations farmers been exposed to.
“It’s the first time in many years that the rain delayed for long and many farmers could also not access fertiliser due to high costs. A survey we carried out indicates that many farmers have cut down on acreage under maize production”, he said.
Uasin Gishu, considered the country’s bread basket, produces about six million bags of maize but the production has been on the decline as several factors combined to hurt the agriculture sector in the region.
Invasion of army worms, high cost of farm inputs and unpredictable weather have taken a toll on the capacity by farmers to increase maize production. With lack of market for their produce worsening in the last three years many farmers had this year opted to cut down on maize production.
“We can foresee acute food shortages soon because of poor planning by the government on the fertiliser issue coupled with the bad weather effects”, Menjo said.
He however said importation of maize should only be done to bridge the shortfall and not with the intention to flood the market.