Board seeks refund for tainted fertiliser

The national cereals board is seeking compensation for more than 7,000 tonnes of contaminated fertiliser it imported for this planting season.

The National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB ) Thursday blamed ship owners for the 6,600 metric tonnes of the affected fertiliser and demanded reimbursement amounting to millions of shillings.

“We launched a complaint after analysis revealed that part of the consignment was hardened and had moisture content of 1.7 per cent instead of  the recommended 1.5 per cent,” said NCPB Managing Director Newton Terer.

He went on: “Original documentation indicates that the fertiliser met the required standards when loading, hence the ship owners need to take responsibility and pay us.”

He said the fertiliser was part of the 14,400 metric tonnes the board imported to meet a shortage of 21,000.

“We raised the alarm over the quality of the fertiliser long before the Kenya Bureau of Standards to safeguard farmers from sub-standard nutrients,” he said.

But maize farmers in the North Rift have complained of an acute shortage of subsidised top dressing fertiliser.

The NCPB distributed 200,000 bags of subsidised calcium ammonium nitrate (CAN) against a demand of more than one million bags.

“The budgetary allocation by the government determined the quantity of subsidised fertiliser that was distributed to the farmers,” said Mr Terer.

The farmers will have to dig deeper into their pockets to purchase the nutrients at market rates of about Sh2,500 a bag compared with Sh1,500 currently offered by the government.

“Some farmers will fail to apply the nutrients due to lack of capital, which will compromise on yield,” said Mr Kipkorir Menjo, a director of Kenya Farmers Association.

ADEQUATE FUNDS

He criticised the government for not allocating adequate funds to the sector despite being the backbone of the country’s economy.

Other farmers claimed they had not received payment for their maize deliveries to the NCPB stores.

“What farmers require is sufficient capital to enable them to invest in modern crop production and not to sell our maize produce on credit,” said Mr Musa Barno, the chairman of the Kenya National Federation of Agricultural Producers’ Uasin Gishu branch.

At the same time, some maize farmers in the North Rift are reportedly hoarding their produce anticipating a shortage.

Maize prices have increased in the past two months due to deteriorating supply, pushing high the cost of living beyond the reach of most households.
A bag of maize is going for Sh2,600, up from Sh1,800, while wheat is selling at Sh3,600 a sack, up from Sh3,200.

“Food shortage is unavoidable as a result of erratic rainfall that interfered with smooth planting programme,” said Ms Susan Kong’ato, from Sergoit, Uasin Gishu County.

She currently has 14 bags of maize, which is sufficient for her family of five before the next crop is ready.