Hope for cheap fertiliser dashed as commissioning of plant pushed

Disappointment rocked farmers in the North Rift grain basket on Wednesday after the anticipated commissioning of a multi-billion fertilizer plant at Ngeria in Uasin Gishu County was postponed.

According to a press release to newsrooms on Tuesday, the decision was reached as President Uhuru Kenyatta who was to commission the factory on Thursday was engaged in other official duties.

“We, Toyota Tsusho Fertilizer Africa Ltd, regretfully inform you that the Commissioning Ceremony of our Fertilizer Plant in Eldoret has being postponed,” said the communication.

The factory, the first of its kind in Africa, was constructed through a Public Private Partnership between the Kenyan government and Toyota Tsusho East Africa Limited.

Once commissioned, it is expected that the factory would immediately start operations whereby more than 150,000 metric tonnes of blended fertilizer for specific soils would be produced annually.

Farmers who spoke to the Nation on Wednesday expressed their disillusionment over the postponement.

“We were hopeful that with the commissioning of the factory, we would be saved from cartels and unscrupulous middlemen and delays occasioned by long queues,” said Mr Joakim Samoei, a horticultural farmer from Kesses, Uasin-Gishu County.

The farmers said that cartels have been creating shortage of the input every planting season then reselling at inflated prices.

According to Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Willy Bett, once operational, the factory is expected to save the country Sh6 billion annually which will help farmers lower the cost of production and country to attain food security.

“Fertilizer is a major component that the government identified to reduce cost of production and ensure productivity goes up. The manufacture will be throughout the year, delays due to logistical nightmare will be a thing of the past,” said Mr Bett recently when he toured the facility.

Mr Bett said that agriculture sector requires 650,000 metric tonnes of fertilizer annually and with new plant about one-third of the total fertilizer required will be produced.

“Soil sampling was conducted for various ecological zones to have the fertilizer work well with the zones. Demonstrations have so far shown that the input increases farm productivity,” said Mr Bett.

In March this year, the government imported an estimated 200,000 metric tonnes to the country from Russia and Morocco, among other countries.

A cost of a bag of government's subsidized fertilizer at National Cereals Produce Board (NCPB) is sold at Sh1800 but some cartels have infiltrated the distribution system repackaging them and reselling at Sh2200 or more.

Mr Bett had earlier denied that the firm had its license cancelled over an alleged row on environmental impact of the project, after residents wanted to know whether the impact assessment was conducted.