Eldoret fertiliser factory plans August production
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Mr Wada also disclosed that the production equipment arrived at the Mombasa port from South Africa last week.
A new fertiliser blending factory in Eldoret will start operations in August, the investor has said.
“We are glad to announce that the plant is fast nearing completion. We are finishing with the structures,” said Akira Wada, Toyota Tsusho East Africa chief executive officer, as he took Uasin Gishu Governor Jackson Mandago on a tour of the factory.
“The factory will have a big impact in the country’s breadbasket because farmers will be able to purchase planting fertiliser at much cheaper prices,” Mr Mandago said. Japanese car manufacturing firm Toyota, through its Tsusho East Africa branch, is building a multi-million shilling fertiliser-blending plant in Ngeria, Uasin Gishu County.
Mr Wada also disclosed that the production equipment arrived at the Mombasa port from South Africa last week. It will help cut import costs and reduce subsidies needed to make fertilisers affordable for poor farmers.
Farming accounts for a third Kenya’s annual economic output, but the high cost of fertilisers means farmers rely on subsidies or avoid using them.
The government has spent more than Sh16 billion to subsidise fertiliser in the last three years.
Mr Mandago, who is the Council of Governors’ Agriculture Committee vice-chairman, said the soil-specific fertiliser will help to solve the soil-acidity menace, which is blamed for the fall in maize production in the North Rift from about 14 million bags in 2013 to 11 million bags in 2014. READ: Kenyan firm plans Bio-Organic fertiliser plant
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