The number of farmers accessing subsidised fertiliser dropped by more than 425,000 in the year ended June, marking the first decline in the reach of President William Ruto’s flagship farm input cushion since he took office.

Draft budget documents show that 949,951 farmers accessed fertiliser through the National Cereals and Produce Board’s subsidy scheme in the year to June.

This was 425,586 fewer farmers than the 1,375,537 who accessed subsidised fertiliser a year earlier, reflecting a 30.9 per cent decline.

The drop ended two consecutive years of growth in farmer access under Dr Ruto’s administration and pushed access to its lowest level since FY2022/23.

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In the first year under Dr Ruto, 512,111 farmers accessed subsidised fertiliser in FY2022/23, before the number more than doubled to 1,268,438 in FY2023/24 and reached a record 1,375,537 in FY2024/25.

The drop came despite the government setting its most ambitious annual target yet, seeking to reach 1,492,350 farmers during the financial year ended June 2026.

The subsidy fell 542,399 farmers short of its target, reaching only 63.7 per cent of the planned beneficiaries, according to the State Department for Agriculture’s draft Programme Based Budget report for 2027/28 to 2029/30.

The performance marks a setback for one of Dr Ruto’s flagship interventions, which has been central to his administration’s bid to lower farming costs, raise food production and shield households from high food prices.

The government is preparing to cut the price of a 50-kilogramme bag of subsidised fertiliser to Sh2,000 from Sh2,500 in a fresh effort to make the key farm input more affordable.

Dr Ruto announced the price reduction earlier this month, saying his administration was keen to ease the burden on farmers suffering losses from poor weather.

The new prices are set to take effect in September and will apply at designated outlets, including those operated by the National Cereals and Produce Board.

“My administration moved from subsidising consumption to subsidising production through lowering the cost of inputs,” Dr Ruto said during a visit to Taita Taveta County.

Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe says approximately 33.5 million bags of subsidised fertiliser have been distributed since 2022, reaching about 1.98 million farmers and attracting government support of about Sh78.79 billion.

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