Ruto promises coffee and tea farmers cheap fertiliser

Embu; Kenya: The Government will provide coffee and tea farmers with subsidised fertiliser to boost production in the two sectors, Deputy President William Ruto has said.

Mr Ruto said the Government made the decision after realising that farmers in the two cash crop sectors are experiencing hardships, adding that he hopes the move will motivate them.

"When I handled the agriculture docket during the Grand Coalition Government, I came up with the plan to improve food production by providing subsidised fertiliser and certified seeds to farmers and you all recall the boom in maize harvested that time," he said.

He said once the farmers start being provided with subsidised fertiliser, production will certainly shoot up two-fold, adding that this will be good for the country because exports will bring in more foreign exchange.

The Deputy President said a country which cannot be food-sufficient poses a threat to its own people, hence the various measures the Government is putting in place to address the matter.

"As we progress, we want to make sure we more than double our food production as well as security," he said.

He said the issues raised by farmers in both the tea and coffee sectors should be addressed by ensuring the farmers are also included in search for solutions.

fleecing farmers

Ruto's sentiments come barely a day after the Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture visited Kirinyaga County where it received first-hand details of how tea farmers are allegedly fleeced by those running the industry. Led by its chairman, Kareke Mbiuki, the committee also witnessed as angry farmers of Mununga tea factory ordered their directors out of the venue.

The farmers claimed that the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA), has been managing the industry for decades and time has come for it to relinquish the mandate and let farmers run their own show.

Mr Kareke said time for restructuring the Agency is long overdue.

"In order for farmers to benefit from their sweat, KTDA must be restructured immediately to conform with the changing trends within the agricultural sector the world over as a result of globalisation," he said.

The tea sector is the only one left standing after coffee, which used to be the number one foreign exchange earners, nose-dived and was overtaken by Tourism, which has also been brought to its knees by frequent terror attacks. Coffee farmers in Gusii region will soon start milling the crop through the Gusii Coffee Mill.