• YARA East Africa donates 13,000 tonnes customised and calibrated to meet the soil needs of maize farmers from Western, Nyanza, Rift Valley, Eastern, Central and Coast.
• The Kenyan farmers are part of the 250,000 smallholder maize farmers in seven countries across Southern and Eastern Africa benefitting from this initiative.
More than 73,000 maize farmers in 22 counties will benefit from a donation of 13,000 tonnes of fertiliser for the short-rains season.
Each farmer will receive three bags of 50kg each of fertiliser for planting and top dressing during the season as part of Yara International food security initiative worth Sh800 million.
Tharaka Nithi's Muthomi Njuki, chairperson of the Council of Governors Agriculture committee, said the initiative teaches the importance of public-private partnerships in the revitalisation of the agriculture sector during and after the Covid-19 pandemic.
"This is due to the fact that government resources continue to be constrained and depleted because of the Covid-19 pandemic and other related socioeconomic impacts, which negatively affect productive sectors, including agriculture,” Njuki said.
He spoke on Tuesday during the launch of YARA Action Africa Initiative at the Nairobi Freight Terminal.
“I urge the Ministry of Agriculture in close collaboration with the county governments to rethink the country’s food security policy to realign it to the new reality. I also urge our partners like Yara to reconsider putting up a local production plant to serve Kenya and the region at large,” the chair said.
Svein Tore Holsether, president and CEO of Yara International, said the initiative seeks to provide an avenue to enhance food production and boost food security, as the number of people facing acute hunger could double in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Vulnerable communities may face the most devastating food crisis in decades. If we don’t act now, millions of people will be pushed into deep poverty and hunger. This is especially worrying in Africa where lives and livelihoods are at risk. As a critical part of the food value chain, we have a responsibility to support vulnerable farming communities and help avert a hunger crisis,” Tore said.
The Kenyan farmers are part of the 250,000 smallholder maize farmers in seven countries across Southern and Eastern Africa benefitting from this initiative being supported by the United Nations, the Norwegian government and African institutions, including African Green Revolution Forum (Africa Food Forum), Generation Africa and the Farm to Market Alliance.
Tore said the Yara fertiliser contribution, combined with agronomic support, is expected to triple maize production and feed more than one million people across Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique for one year.
William Ngeno, Kenya country manager of Yara East Africa, said they will work in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture and county governments.
The devolved units are Bungoma, Busia, Kakamega, Vihiga, Siaya, Homa Bay, Migori, Nyamira, Narok, Bomet and Trans-Nzoia. Others are Nandi, Machakos, Makueni, Kitui, Kiambu, Muranga, Embu, Tharaka-Nithi, Meru, Taita-Taveta and Tana-River.
“The Sh800 million set aside for the rollout of this initiative in Kenya provides for the fertiliser and extension support to farmers using digital communication platforms, communication at the point of collection and field visits on how to best utilise farm inputs, including the fertiliser, so as to realise great gains,” Ngeno said.
David Beasley, executive director of the World Food Programme, said, "This initiative provides a good model for how the private sector and individual companies can step up, in partnership with African institutions, governments and organisations like WFP, to help sustain production and food supply chains and safeguard the people most at risk during this pandemic.”