President William Ruto on Monday, November 7, announced that Kenya has entered into an agreement with a multinational firm to fast-track the development of affordable green fertiliser.
The president made the revelation while attending 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Egypt.
“Under the pact, Fortescue Future Industries and the Government of Kenya will work together to build a 300MW capacity generation green ammonia and green fertiliser facility by 2025,” State House wrote on Twitter.
President Ruto affirmed that the deal that was signed in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt will further move Kenya towards achieving green energy transition.
“The shift will help reduce our reliance on imports, check the high cost of fertiliser and boost food production,” he said.
Fortescue Executive Chairman and Founder Dr Andrew Forrest said the partnership will create thousands of new jobs in Kenya.
The president on September 13, 2022 told the country that his government, through subsidies, had reduced the cost of fertilizer from Ksh. 6,500 to Ksh3,500 for a 50-kilogram bag.
President Ruto also avowed that his administration has already made available 1.4 million bags of fertilizer to help shore up food production with the expected short rains.
“I appeal to county governments in eastern, central and wester regions where we are expecting short rains to work with us in make sure that this fertilizer is available to all farmers in that region so that we can begin the journey to increase our food production initiative,” said President Ruto.
Ruto’s government has since distributed thousands of bags of fertilizer to farmers across the country.
“The forecast for maize harvest this year is below 30 million bags against the normal production of 40 million bags. The main cause of the decline in production is the high cost of inputs,” said President Ruto.
According to the president, the immediate priority intervention is to ensure that fertilizer, quality seeds and other farm inputs are available at affordable prices, which should see cost food fall.
