KENYA – The Kenya Tea Development Agency Management Services Limited (KTDA MS) has announced the first batch of fertilizers amounting to 47,800 metric tonnes has arrived at the port of Mombasa in readiness for distribution to more than 650,000 small-scale tea farmers.
The consignment is part of a 92,737 metric tons order that the agency management had placed for the 2023/24 season. KTDA MS has revealed that the second vessel delivering the balance is expected to dock in November.
The chemically formulated fertilizer, which contains NPK 26:5:5, was purchased from Russia directly after a competitive international bidding process and will be provided to the farmers through their respective factory companies.
The fertilizer will be first bagged at the port for onward distribution to farmers via the SGR to Nairobi and further to factories.
KTDA says this arrangement allows smooth and efficient delivery to farmers up to the closest tea-buying centers, thus ensuring farmers do not incur extra costs transporting the fertilizer from the factory stores.
It however noted that the cost of fertilizer has been negatively impacted by the rising cost of natural gas (a key component in the manufacture of NPK chemically compounded fertilizer), unfavorable exchange rates, global supply constraints, high crude oil costs, and the cost of shipment, among other factors.
The company also clarified that the final cost of a 50-kg bag of fertilizer will be determined once clearing and transport costs to respective tea factories across the country, as well as marine and overland insurance costs, have been factored in.
The KTDA provides a fertilizer credit program that enables farmers to pay for the fertilizer they have ordered for use on their crops over the course of several installments.
These payments are dispersed over a period of time to lessen the farmer’s financial burden on the purchase of fertilizer, which is a significant input expense in tea farming.
Earlier, KTDA revealed that over the course months of leading to August, green leaf production fell to 1.145 billion kilos from the original 1.254 billion kilograms in 2022, which represents the lowest output for the sector since 2019.
At the time, the company asserted that the lower tea production was partially due to drought conditions and insufficient rainfall, which severely reduced farm productivity and resulted in a 1.6% contraction of the agriculture sector in 2022.
Additional reports by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics showed that drought conditions dimmed tea production to 535,000 tonnes from 537,800 tonnes in 2022.
By applying fertilizer to tea bushes at the onset of the short rains will ensure a consistent high quality and quantity of green leaf essential for premium tea production as farmers look forward to the next tea bonuses.
