• Farmers forced to wait for delivery of subsidised fertiliser due to long procurement processes.
• Businessman says early planting and proper timing important for better crop yields.
The government should acquire subsidised fertiliser a year in advance to avoid delays which hurt farmers, a businessman has said.
Farmers incur losses due to delayed availability of the input, said Erick Ruto, an aspirant for vice president of the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
He said it is unfortunate farmers have for a long time been forced to wait longer for delivery of subsidised fertiliser due to long procurement processes.
Ruto said early planting and proper timing are important for better crop yields.
He spoke in Narok when he met KNCCI members at the weekend.
The aspirant was accompanied by Narok KNCCI chairman David Mpatiany and Uasin Gishu KNCCI vice chairman Willy Kenei.
“Our farmers have not been benefiting from the early rains due to delays by the government to issue subsidised fertiliser,” Ruto said.
He said food security will not be achieved in the country if farmers get subsidised inputs that are of low quality and that will lead to low production.
Ruto, who is the proprietor of the Reale Group of Hospitals, asked the Kenya Bureau of Standards to scrutinize the quality of imported subsidised fertiliser after some farmers complained of low yields.
He urged the government to support wheat farmers in Narok to produce more to end perennial importation of the commodity to meet the country’s demand.
“Currently, the country is importing about 84 per cent of wheat from neighbouring countries yet areas like Narok still have huge arable land. If farmers are supported, they will produce sufficient quantity and even surplus for export instead of Kenya importing every year,” he said.
Ruto advised the 47 county governments to harmonize cess collection to curb multiple licensing to boost inter-county trade.
“Currently, we are importing almost everything including food because of government bureaucracy that is unfavorable to the local manufacturers, reducing the country to a dumping ground for counterfeit products,” he said.