President William Ruto’s project of distributing subsidized fertilizer to farmers across the country is facing unprecedented challenges amid the offing onset of rains.
This is after the ministry of agriculture reported a suppressed uptake process of the commodity whose distribution began Monday this week.
In a statement, Crops Development PS Kello Harsama said the phenomenon is attributed to a lack of information about the procedure, saying the ministry will utilize media to sensitize people about the distribution.
“Because of little information, some farmers may not be aware that fertilizers have arrived in their store. That is why we have called this presser, to tell Kenyans that fertilizers are now available. We are going to use various media avenues to tell Kenyans that fertilizers are now there,” said Harsama.
The government has had the intention of distributing 500, 000 metric tonnes of subsidized fertilizers, but only 14,300 have been taken since the commencement of the process.
Only 1,431 farmers have received the 14,300 bags of fertilizers out of the total target of 4.3 million farmers.
During the first day of distribution, farmers complained about the long distances they had to travel to the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) centers, saying it negated the whole point of subsidies.
So far, counties that have received the discounted fertilizers include Narok, Nakuru, Migori, Uasin Gishu, Trans Nzoia, West Pokot, Nandi, Kericho, Bomet, Kakamega, Bungoma and Elgeyo Marakwet counties.
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