The second consignment of subsidised fertilizer for Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) farmers has been flagged off at the Mombasa Port for onward distribution through the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) to Nairobi and subsequently to factories.
The consignment comprises more than 900,000 bags totalling 45,232 tonnes of fertilizer that KTDA has imported for its farmers, which bring the cumulative total for the 2023/2024 year to 92,737 metric tonnes. With one bag prized at Ksh2,500, the consignment is worth Ksh2.2 billion.
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The ship carrying the second consignment docked at the Mombasa Port on Monday, 18th December, 2023, and follows the successful delivery of the first consignment of 956,000 bags of 50kgs (47,800 tonnes) which was received at the Port, and distributed to farmers, in October.
“Since we have made it clear that we want to increase productivity so that we can get more yield, the Government has stepped in to subsidize the cost of fertilizer, farmers are now buying fertilizer at Ksh2,500 per bag,” said Agriculture and Livestock Development Cabinet Secretary, Mr Mithika Linturi.
KTDA Holdings Chairman, Enos Njeru, said delivery of this consignment comes against the backdrop of global challenges in the shipping and logistics space that occasioned by, among others, disruptions caused by the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict as well as Israel-Hamas war which has led to the re-routing of shipping lines away from the Suez Canal.
“I am also happy to note that, this year, we have introduced packages of 25 kgs bags instead of the traditional 50kgs to ease the carrying of heavy weights while applying fertiliser in the farms,” Mr Njeru. “Moving forward, and to ensure that we do not experience lengthy delays in fertilizer delivery for our farmers, we have embarked on early procurement of next year’s fertilizer so that it reaches our farmers in good time.”
The NPK 26:5:5 chemically compounded fertilizer was procured directly from Russia and will be bagged at the port before distribution to the farmers. This arrangement allows smooth and efficient delivery to farmers up to the closest tea buying centres. Farmers do not incur extra cost transporting the fertilizer from the factory stores.
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The cost of fertiliser has been negatively impacted by rising cost of natural gas (a key component in the manufacture of NPK chemically compounded fertiliser), unfavourable exchange rates, global supply constraints, high crude oil costs and the cost of shipment among other factors.
KTDA procures fertilizer in bulk for more than 650,000 small scale tea farmers, who are the shareholders of its managed factories, through competitive international bidding. The fertiliser is then distributed to the farmers through their respective factory companies. This arrangement enables small scale tea farmers to access high quality fertiliser at the most competitive price and in a reliable manner.
The KTDA fertilizer credit scheme enables farmers to pay in instalments to ease the farmer’s burden on the purchase of fertilizer which is a major input cost in tea farming.
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