Fake fertiliser puzzle: Push and pull as Nyanza farmers demand refunds from Gov't

The government's message to farmers assuring them that fertilisers issued under the fertilizer subsidy program are good does not seem to have reassured farmers.

Despite calls for testing of suspect fertiliser, more farmers continue to demand refunds for monies spent, citing a lack of confidence in the product issued. 

In Kisumu County, small-scale farmers expressed their reservations about the authenticity of the government-subsidized fertiliser saying they had ways of determining whether it was the real thing.

Citizen TV toured Lela village in Kisumu and found Peter Okore loading a heap of compost manure ready for planting.

In his house, however, a 50-kilogram bag of the NPK fertiliser rested in one corner. Okore says he is unsure of the contents of the bag and cannot risk his anticipated harvest by applying this fertilizer bought from the NCPB store in Luanda.

“Mwanzo walitangaza Kakamega ndio waligundua ati mbolea haikua safi, ya pili wakatangaza huko Molo...sasa vile tuliskia hizi mbili tukasema hapana, wacha tufungue hizi zetu...sasa kufungua ndio tukaona ilikuwa tofauti na ile ya mwanzo...tofauti ya kwanza ni ati hii ya saa hii iko na vumbi mingi alafu iko na vitu kama chumvi chumvi ambayo ni kama tu mawe,” Okore said.

Another bag bought from a private store contains what the farmers say is the legitimate fertiliser.

In one bowl they dissolved the fertilizer from the privately owned store and in another, the NPK 9:16:6 from NCPB, and after about half an hour they get different results.

The farmers demanded a refund and expressed reluctance to follow messages sent out by NCPB on the availability of top-dressing fertilizer.

“Mimi ata nimepata message hapa ati wako na ile ya top dressing na sasa sina imani, siwezi haribu pesa kuchukua hiyo top dressing afadhali nichukue mbolea huko kwa duka ata kama bei yake iko juu tutachukua juu huwa wanatupea kama loan alafu tunalipa mdogo mdogo,” Sherry Atieno, another farmer in Lela, said.

Teresa Wagwana added: “Sababu wako na number zetu zenye tulilipa risiti afadhali ata waturudishie pesa yetu tuende tuchukue ile ya duka ata kama ni ya pesa ya juu afadhali tuchukue hiyo tusukume nayo.”

This comes as police in Nakuru arrested three people working for Africa Diatomite Industries on suspicion of producing substandard fertiliser.

The three were nabbed with among other things, 4 bags of suspected substandard fertiliser, 10 sieving wire meshes as well as a copy of the KEBS license issued to Africa Diatomite Industries. 

The three have been detained at the Muthaiga Police Station pending arraignment. 

With the government insisting that these samples have to be tested in a laboratory to prove their legitimacy, farmers are using the age-old method where the alleged fake fertiliser leaves no trace on the rim of the bowl while the real one seemingly dissolves one particle at a time.

What remains to be seen is which of the two sides is right.