According to Agriculture CS Peter Munya, the price of planting fertilizer is expected to rise to KSh 7000 for a 50kg bag due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis.
The CS, while responding to Molo MP Kimani Kuria, said that the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war will likely raise the prices further, and appealed to the government to offer a subsidy to cushion farmers against the expected price hike.
Russia and China are the main suppliers of fertilizer to Kenya.
The price of planting fertilizer (diammonium phosphate) has already risen from KSh 4000 in 2021 to KSh 6000 this year. This was due to the rise in prices of natural gas in Europe, which forced some manufacturers to cease production.
Over the last three months, there has been massive inflation in the price of natural gas in Europe due to the fact that economies have been rapidly reopening after the relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions.
The ongoing crisis in Russia and Ukraine will likely make the situation worse because Russia is the main supplier of natural gas across Europe. Thus, the already high prices and the anticipated increase are a huge blow to farmers who are into the planting season.
CS Munya has asked parliament for a KSh 31 billion subsidy, which will subsequently lower the price to KSh 2800.
Parliament has said that it will allocate KSh 3 billion in the supplementary budget to help lower the price of fertilizer.
