Farmers from the Rift Valley region will receive the highest quantity of subsidised fertilizer, according to the latest report by the Ministry of Interior on Wednesday, May 31.
This resulted from the Rift Valley region having the highest number of registered farmers compared to other regions in the country.
According to the report, 4.3 million farmers were registered in the past five months, with Rift Valley accounting for 1.2 million farmers, followed by the Eastern region with 888,675.
A statement from the Ministry stated that the government was using the database to support farmers, a move that facilitated the distribution of subsidised fertilizer.
“It is through the database that the government has determined the level of support and extension services needed by each farmer, a move that has also facilitated the ongoing distribution of fertiliser,” read part of the statement by the Ministry.
The government launched the voluntary registration exercise in January 2023 to establish a national database of all farmers, detailing their profiles, location, and crop acreage, among other identifiers.
Nyanza, Western, and Central Kenya had higher numbers, capturing details of 663438, 614146, and 591,776 farmers, respectively.
The Coast region had compiled a list of 235,779 farmers, while North Eastern (44,679) and Nairobi (6,738) close the list with the lowest numbers so far.
“Nakuru County had the highest number of registered farmers at 230,787 farmers while Bungoma county is second with 203,310, then followed closely by Kakamega, which has 203,173 farmers,” read part of the report.
Participation in the exercise was also high in Meru, where 197,048 farmers availed their personal information for registration.
Notably, some counties had relatively low numbers of registered farmers, with Isiolo, Mombasa, Marsabit, Wajir, and Garissa recording under 10,000 each.
However, the variation in progress was also attributable to other inflexible factors, particularly the size and population of the county as well as its major socio-economic practices.
Still, on September 21, 2022, the Ministry of Agriculture announced that subsidised fertiliser was available across the country following a directive by President William Ruto during his inauguration.
In a statement by the ministry, it was revealed that the DAP fertiliser - being sold at Ksh3,500, had been availed in various National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) depots.
"We appeal to farmers to visit the NCPB depot or sub-depot, where a 50 kg bag of DAP will sell at Ksh3,500, CAN at Ksh2,875, UREA at Ksh3,500, NPK at Ksh 3,275, MOP Ksh1,775 and Sulphate of Ammonia at Ksh 2,220.
"Individual farmers will be entitled to a maximum of 100- 50Kg bags of fertilizer," read the statement in part.
On the other hand, Principal Secretary for Crop Development, Kello Harsama, on February 9, called on farmers to pick up the subsidised fertiliser offered by the government.
Harsama observed a slow uptake of the agricultural product provided by the government countrywide.
