The National Assembly’s Committee on Agriculture and Livestock has pledged that it will not leave any stone unturned on its ongoing probe on the supply of substandard fertilizer to farmers across the country.

The Members made the pledge to farmers congregated at the Nakuru National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) Depot during the second day of public hearings and fact finding visits by the Committee over the matter.

“As a Committee, we are committed to supporting the government agenda on food security. We cannot allow unscrupulous suppliers to sabotage this cause. We shall get to the bottom of this investigation”, Vice Chairperson, Hon. Brighton Yegon (Konoin) undertook.

This followed a barrage of complains from the farmers who claimed to have purchased either the GPC Original Plus Organic Fertilizer’ which is manufactured by Silica Booster Limited, or the KEL Green brand. The farmers while making their submissions to the Committee noted that they were taken aback soon after purchasing fertilizer at the NCPB stores when they got home and upon opening the bags, found a different substance different from the normal fertilizer they have in past purchased from the depot or other agri-input suppliers.

Mr. Maina Waigwa a farmer who claimed to have been a former senior agricultural officer at the Ministry, told the Committee that having subjected a sample of Fomi Otesha fertilizer that his mother had sourced from NCPB to tests at the National Agricultural Research Laboratories, the results had indicated a deficit on the components of nitrogen and phosphorus indicated on the fertilizer’s packaging bag.

A number of farmers also raised complaints regarding the quality of Yara brand which though stocked by NCPB, is not being supplied under the government subsidy program. Soy lawmaker, Hon. David Kiplagat called on NCPB to consider testing the quality of fertilizer they stock before receiving it in their stores, even if it calls for partnering with the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KBS).

“NCPB must find a way of ensuring they test the quality of fertilizer they stock on behalf of [1]the government. When they receive maize from farmers, the first thing they do is to test its quality. Why isn’t this a standard procedure when you receive fertilizer?”, Hon. Kiplagat posed.

At the same time, Farmers in Kericho county have appealed to the Committee to develop policies that are favourable to the modern farmer so as to encourage the uptake of farming as a serious commercial venture for young people.

The plea was made by young farmers who attended today’s public hearings at Kericho National Cereals and Produce Board Offices ( NCPB), during the second day of the Committee’s ongoing probe regarding the distribution of substandard fertilizers by unscrupulous suppliers through NCPB.

Making his submission during the visit led by the Committee Vice Chairperson, Hon. Brighton Yegon (Konoin), Mr. Julius Kibet, a farmer, told the Committee that there is need for development of policies geared towards small scale modern farmers who are trying to eke a living from the trade.

“Hon. Members, we urge your Committee to consider creating policies that can address the plight of modern day farmers. Some of us do not own large tracts of land, but we have the knowledge and so we have leased parcels of land to implement the farming knowledge we possess”, he told the Committee.

Noting that the modern farmer has departed from operating within the traditional farming seasons, he called on the government to consider distributing the subsidized fertilizer all year round. Other farmers who attended the session called on the Committee to facilitate the availability of certified seeds through the NCPB depots, so as to complement the government’s efforts towards food security.

The farmers also urged that the distribution of subsidized fertilizer is further devolved to the locations to cushion farmers from transport costs. In response, Committee Member Justice Kemei and Kericho County MP, Hon. Beatrice Kimei who was in attendance called on the County Government to collaborate with NCPB in providing the last mile facilitation, so as to help the farmers access the subsidized fertilizer with ease.

The Committee also visited Molo Police station where a large consignment of KEL Green fertilizer which was intercepted on April 22 is being held. At the station, security officers led by the Deputy County Commissioner Molo recounted how the consignment was intercepted. The Committee took samples of the fertilizer, which they intend to subject to tests to ascertain its components.

A section of the Committee who were conducting inspections visits in Central Kenya,today visited Mwea NCPB Depot in Kirinyaga and Sagana Depot. At Mwea NCPB the members were informed that the depot was supplied with 560bags of NPK 10:26:10 which were all sold, but two bags were recently returned to them and the farmers are still awaiting to be compensated. During the interactive session, the farmers disclosed that the turn around time of serving a client at NCPB was very lengthy. They called on the depot to fix and upgrade their systems in order to manage long queues.

The Committee resumes the inspection visits next weekend when they are expected to visit NCPB depots in the Nyanza and Western regions.