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More than 80,000 coffee farmers have registered for the government’s Sh1billion coffee farm inputs subsidy programme launched early this year, thanks to the depressed growers’ purchasing power and low cash flow in the economy.

Administered by New Kenya Planters Cooperative Union (NKPCU), the programme seeks to help farmers’ access fertilisers and chemicals at subsidised prices and thus shielding them against the skyrocketing farm input prices.

“Government is waiving 40 per cent of the total cost of the fertiliser and pesticides and the individual farmer required to pay 60 per cent before supplied with the input,” said Timothy Mirugi, New KPCU managing director.

He told Business Hub that the subsidy programme being piloted in Nyeri, Murang’a and Kirinyaga counties has so far benefited 55,617 coffee farmers.

However, the number of farmers interested in the subsidised farm inputs seems to have grown at a faster rate compared to 15,639 farmers who have applied for low-cost loans from the Sh3 billion cherry revolving fund. The revolving fund was launched in January 2020. According to data from the Ministry of Agriculture, a total of 80,087 farmers have so far been registered for the programme out of the targetted 82,000 farmers.

So far 13 counties have registered for the programme with Mt Kenya counties leading in terms of farmers who have expressed interests in applying for the farm inputs.

Number of farmers

The statistics reveal that Nyeri County has recorded the highest number of farmers who have been listed at 12,143 followed by Murang’a with 8,863, Embu (7,646), Meru (7,401), Kirinyaga (6,871 and 6,515 listed in Kisii/Nyamira counties.

“Farmers are required to cover 60 per cent of the cost while government subsidises the remaining 40 per cent of the total cost of inputs,” Mirugi said in an interview in Nairobi. Because the e-voucher system is yet to take off, he added, they are registering farmers manually where the pay the 60 per cent. “We are topping up and engaging manufacturers or the farm inputs in order to supply the inputs, and the latter bill the New KPCU,” he said.

This is different, Mirugi explained, to the e-voucher subsidy system where farmers receive vouchers and present them to agrovets who later claim payment from the government.  Currently, maize farmers are benefitting from a government’s fertiliser subsidy programme through the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB).

Mirugi said the coffee subsidy programme is seeking to cushion farmers against the skyrocketing fertiliser prices which currently stand at over Sh6,000 per 50 kilogramme bag.  Under the subsidy, farmers are enjoying prices of fertiliser to between Sh3,000 and Sh3,600 per bag.