The government is rolling out new subsidies to give welcome relief to the farmers, especially in the North Rift breadbasket. Many risk losses running into millions of shillings as drought, pests and diseases ravage crops.
The severe dry spell and a shortage of top-dressing fertiliser are likely to reduce the national maize harvest by 30 per cent. This will necessitate imports and emergency support. The North Rift region normally produces 6 million bags of maize a year, fetching between Sh15 billion and Sh20 billion.
However, the government is upbeat about the gains from its fertiliser subsidy programme. Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe says Sh78 billion has been spent on the subsidised fertiliser programme since its introduction in 2022.
During this period, 33.55 million 50kg fertiliser bags were distributed to 1.98 million farmers. The National Fertiliser Subsidy Programme reduced the price by more than half, to Sh2,500. This has now been further lowered to Sh2,000, a 73 per cent reduction. The annual maize production increased from 34.3 million 90kg bags to 73 million bags last year.
According to the CS, Sh6 billion will be spent on subsidising 40 million kilogrammes of maize seed to revive production. Against the backdrop of a failed maize harvest in the Rift Valley grain basket, the government has lowered the cost of fertiliser and certified maize seeds.
Farmers will now pay Sh2,000 for a 50-kilogramme bag, down from Sh2,500. The price of certified maize seed has also been slashed by half from Sh300 to Sh150 per kilogramme. A 25kg bag will cost Sh3,750 down from Sh7,500.
The government is supporting farmers to recover from drought and lower their cost of production by investing in irrigation, water harvesting and other climate-smart interventions to enhance resilience amid the changing weather patterns.
The interventions to cushion farmers from heavy losses due to drought are laudable.