KTDA in fertiliser incentive for smallholder farmers

The Kenya Tea Development Agency Management Services (KTDA-MS) has come up with a fertiliser import scheme for its over 560,000 smallholder farmers, allowing them to buy the input at affordable prices.

In the arrangement, farmers can pay for the fertiliser through easy monthly instalments deducted from their green leaf deliveries to their factories, seeing them acquire it at substantially lower prices than the market price.

The smallholder farmers pay up to Sh1,492 for a 50kg bag of quality NPK fertiliser hence enjoy economies of scale and an efficient procurement process, with the agency presently in the process of importing 88,000 metric tonnes of fertiliser for the current season.

To acquire the fertiliser, the procurement process starts in November of the preceding year through aggregating demand from interested tea farmers.

An international open tender is subsequently floated to identify the most competitive supplier for the input.

The fertiliser is tested for both quality and safety at the manufacturer level by appointed agents and in Kenya by organisations like Kenya Bureau of Standards, hence farmers can trust that the fertiliser supplied will improve yields and quality.

According to Egadwa Mudoga, KTDA’s corporate affairs manager, fertiliser applied in farming should be optimal for the crop and soil type in a particular area.

Mr Mudoga adds that fertiliser can be custom-made to suit different needs but there ought to be a basis for the differentiation as tailor-made fertiliser blends based on scientific tests, allowing the farmers to use the most suitable nourishment for their crops.

IMPORTANT INPUT

Fertiliser is an important input for farmers and constitutes not less than 20 per cent of farm level costs. It often is a key determinant of the expected harvest, hence its pricing and availability are critical factors that could affect farmers’ harvests.

While the government supplies subsidised fertiliser to farmers in a bid to cushion them from higher commercial prices, the private sector’s involvement in the same is equally vital.

Private sector fertiliser importation schemes, such as KTDA’s have demonstrated that farmers can get better value if they pool their resources to enjoy economies of scale.

The involvement of the private sector in the fertiliser industry will additionally see development of technologies that will track each bag of the imported fertiliser from the port to the farm, to ensure that each farmer gets their rightful, quality share of fertiliser in good time.

Aerial mapping and survey tools especially in tea farms will also help in determining better fertiliser requirements for best yields.

KTDA is also working with the International Finance Corporation on a three-year programme to conduct soil and tea leaf testing, enabling formulation of the most appropriate fertiliser blends to help farmers boost yields.

KTDA’s participation in partnerships with the private sector has also seen the country’s ambitious plan to limit carbon emission receive a boost from a plan by industries associated with the agency, which has so far seen 13,000 acres of trees planted to combat climate change.

FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT LITERACY

The tree plantations, which involve participation of the smallholder farmers, are part of the agency and its affiliates’ plan to plant 40,300 acres, which once complete will be beneficial to the tea factories, farmers planting them and the other involved parties, as well as for environmental conservation processes.

It is estimated that 2.47 acres of trees capture one to 10 tonnes of carbon dioxide every year, with eucalyptus particularly efficient in carbon capture and fixing due to their higher growth rate and denser woods.

Furthermore, even as the smallholder farmers partake in these activities, they also get trained on sustainable agricultural practices under a Farmer Field School, with the objective of improving their output and conserving the environment.

Under KTDA-MS, Unilever and the Sustainable Trade Initiative, IDH, up to 85,000 smallholder farmers have so far gone through the trainings which offer insight into better agricultural practices hence improving their tea and other crops’ production and also helps the farmers diversify into other activities.

The trainings involve nursery establishment, planting, plant nutrition, pest management, climate change adaptation strategies, social issues such as labour and gender and agrochemical use among others, with those fully proficient in the practices expected to train others.

The farmers also learn to diversify their income sources through activities such as livestock keeping, poultry farming and seedling cultivation for sale, with financial management literacy to enable them manage their income more efficiently set to start soon according to KTDA CEO, Lerionka Tiampati.