Agriculture and Livestock Development Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe has ordered the destruction of 27,000 bags of expired fertilizer countrywide.
In a statement released on March 13, 2025, the CS said this exercise will be held in various National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) stores across the country.
“Mutahi Kagwe has today ordered the destruction of 27,518 bags of an expired consignment of fertilizer,” the statement read.
According to the statement, the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) shall supervise the safe destruction of the consignment.
The consignment includes Sulphate of Ammonia fertilizer, which was supplied to NCPB by Fine Tech Edge Limited between December 27, 2024, and January 6, 2025.
Before contract execution, KEBS tested the samples of the fertilizer, and the results indicated that the fertilizer met Kenyan standards.
Furthermore, the CS said to meet Kenyan standards, a fertilizer must contain at least 21% Sulphate of Ammonia.
Why Mutahi Kagwe recalled the Fertilizer
At the same time, KEBS authorized the consignment of 34,100 bags (50kgs) to be delivered to NCPB.
However, upon supply, NCPB noted the short shelf-life, which was to lapse on February 28th, 2025, as indicated in the packaging material.
NCPB proactively notified the supplier, requesting that future deliveries of fertilizer have a longer shelf life as the entire consignment was unlikely to be completely sold by the end of February.
Also Read: Kenyan Farmer in US Confronts Ruto Over Fake Fertilizer
NCPB Orders Return of Unsold Fertilizer
“Per standard operating procedures, the unsold fertilizer would not be released to the market and would be safely destroyed,” the statement read.
On February 27, 2025, the NCPB management issued an order to stop the sale of the remaining consignment.
Further, KEBS seized the fertilizer on March 4, 2025, and halted any movement of the same unsafe fertilizer.
Also Read: DCI Nabs Ksh1.8 M Worth Govt Fertilizer Enroute to Another Country
Further Directives
Since the fertilizer was supplied on a consignment basis, with ownership remaining with the supplier until it is sold, FinTech Edge will bear the costs and loss.
Kagwe assured the public that the cabinet secretary and the government are committed to ensuring that Kenyan Farmers will access highest quality of farm inputs.
Additionally, he stated that public health and environmental standards shall be upheld, and that these will never be compromised.
Mutahi Kagwe urged players in the agricultural and livestock sectors to take up insurance to mitigate such losses. The government and the Kenyan public will not incur any loss or costs.
The announcement by CS Kagwe came even as farmers across the country begin to plant following the onset of the long rains.
President William Ruto’s government subsidized the cost of fertilizer with a 50kg bag of NPK/Urea/CAN/DAP going for Ksh2,500 from an upward of Ksh7,000.
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