- The audit said fertiliser distribution points were not easily accessible by farmers, with some farmers having to travel long distances to the nearest depot.
- The programme was aimed at cushioning farmers from the high cost of fertilisers.
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The success of the Sh10.8 billion fertiliser subsidy programme cannot be ascertained, a special audit of Auditor General Nancy Gathungu says.
In her report, Gathungu said there was no monitoring and evaluation mechanism in place making it difficult to establish whether the programme achieved its objective.
The Government, through the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development (MALD), launched the fertiliser e-subsidy programme in September 2022.
The programme was aimed at cushioning farmers from the high cost of fertilisers by providing affordable ones.
Gathungu noted that a total of 3,228,491 farmers were registered in MALD’s database across forty-one (41) counties as of June 30, 2023, and 3,628,530 electronic vouchers had been issued to registered farmers.
The report said ministry records indicated that in total, 3,426,884 bags of fertiliser had been distributed through 142 depots and selling centres throughout the country.
“The special audit team sampled 55 fertiliser depots in 17 counties,” the auditor said.
She said document review revealed that through the programme, a total of 2,348,831 bags of subsidised fertiliser valued at Sh10,804,509,000 had been distributed to farmers across the sampled counties.
The audit said fertiliser distribution points were not easily accessible by farmers, with some farmers having to travel long distances to the nearest depot.
“For instance, the Mosoriot National Cereals and Produce Board depot in Uasin Gishu County serves farmers from five (5) Sub-counties; Chesumei, Emgwen, Mosop, Kapseret and Tinderet. Due to the long distance covered by farmers to collect fertiliser from the depot, it was costly for them, resulting in low uptake of the subsidised fertiliser,” the auditor said.
The report said farmers interviewed at the sampled depots complained of not getting the right type of fertiliser for the planting season.
“There were variances in the registered acreage vis a vis the quantity of fertilizer allocated in the ERP-Mezzanine system,” the report said.
It added that some farmers did not receive e-vouchers, despite having registered on the ERP-Mezzanine system and, hence could not benefit from the programme.
The Public Accounts Committee of the National Assembly requested the Auditor-General through their letter Ref: NA/DAASC/PAC/2023/106 dated April 26, 2023, to undertake a special audit on all expenditure incurred under Article 223 of the Constitution for the financial year 2022/2023.
The letter indicated that the National Government spent a total of Sh130 billion in the financial year 2022/2023 on account of expenditures relating to fuel stabilisation, flour and fertiliser subsidies, provision for relief food, and enhanced security operations.
The special audit was also part of the implementation of structural benchmarks for the Kenya International Monetary Fund (IMF) Extended Credit Facility Programme which required the Auditor-General to undertake an audit on the supplementary budget expenditure for the last three years, including withdrawals under Article 223 of the Constitution.