Kenya Tea Development Agency to Distribute Fertilizer Refunds to Smallholder Farmers
The Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) has announced that smallholder tea farmers affiliated with the agency will receive fertilizer suspense refunds alongside their Green Leaf (GL) payments by January 5, 2025. This comes as part of KTDA’s ongoing efforts to empower farmers and improve their livelihoods.
KTDA has procured a total of 98,988 metric tonnes of fertilizer for the current year, with the final batch of 8,000 MT set to be distributed to farmers by the first week of December 2024. A reconciliation process will follow to determine the refund amounts payable to each farmer, based on the fertilizer they received.
This year, the cost of a 50kg bag of NPK chemically compounded fertilizer was Ksh 3,400, with the fertilizer purchased through a competitive bidding process. However, in a significant boost to tea farmers, the Government of Kenya stepped in with a Ksh 2 billion subsidy in November 2024, reducing the cost per bag to Ksh 2,500.
The KTDA has expressed its gratitude to the government for the subsidy, which has resulted in reduced fertilizer costs for farmers, thereby improving their earnings. The reduced costs are expected to positively impact the farmers’ returns, ensuring better payments for their hard work.
KTDA’s management continues to prioritize the welfare of smallholder farmers, and the fertilizer refund initiative is part of their broader strategy to ensure that tea farmers thrive in a competitive global market.
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