The Treasury is seeking the approval of MPs to cut the budget for the fertiliser subsidy by 38.2 percent in the financial year 2024/25, even as the scandal over the sale of substandard subsidised fertiliser to farmers rages.
In the latest budget estimates, the Treasury has allocated Sh10 billion to the programme in the new financial year starting in July.
If approved, this will be a significant cut from the Sh16.2 billion that the Treasury last week asked Parliament to spend on subsidised fertiliser in the current financial year through the second supplementary budget.
The exchequer had originally budgeted Sh12.2 billion for the supply of subsidised fertiliser in the budget passed in June 2023, but last week sought to raise this expenditure by Sh4 billion through the mini-budget now before Parliament.
If approved, Sh16.2 billion will be spent on the subsidy in the current fiscal year before being scaled down sharply to Sh10 billion in the next budget.
Through the subsidy, registered farmers pay Sh2,500 for a 50-kilogram bag of fertiliser, which is a sharp drop from market prices as high as Sh6,500.
Fertiliser plays a major role in increasing local food production.
According to the Treasury, the programme seeks to distribute 70,138 tonnes of fertiliser during the new financial year, when an estimated 152,265 farmers will access the commodity.
The new budget estimates come at a time when the subsidy has become a hot potato after it emerged that farmers were sold substandard fertiliser leading to the potential loss of billions of taxpayers’ money.
This has put Agriculture Cabinet secretary Mithika Linturi under the spotlight, with 149 MPs last week voting to impeach him while 36 lawmakers voted in his defence.
The matter has been referred to an 11-member Select Committee to inquire into the three allegations against the minister following the impeachment motion against him moved by Bumula MP Jack Wamboka.
The saga also saw top National Cereals and Produce Board officials charged last week with conspiracy to defraud, among other charges.
Successive governments have subsidised the product for periods whenever prices of the commodity skyrocketed to give relief to farmers.
About 45 percent of fertiliser sold in Kenya is used to grow maize, which is the country’s staple food.
Further, 16 percent is used to grow tea, Kenya’s top cash crop, followed by sugar cane (13 percent), beans (seven percent), wheat (five percent), and flowers (three percent).
