The government has announced a further reduction in the price of subsidised fertiliser and certified maize seed as part of measures to cushion farmers from drought-related losses and help them return to production.
Under the new intervention, farmers will buy a 50kg bag of subsidised fertiliser at Sh2,000, down from the current Sh2,500.
The government will also cover 50 per cent of the cost of certified maize seed, reducing the price from Sh300 to Sh150 per kilogramme.
This means a 2kg pack of maize seed will retail at Sh300 instead of Sh600, while a 10kg pack will cost Sh1,500, down from Sh3,000. A 25kg pack will be sold at Sh3,750, compared with the previous price of Sh7,500.
The maize seed subsidy will target approximately 40 million kilogrammes, with the government expected to spend an estimated Sh6 billion on the intervention.
Farmers will access the subsidised fertiliser and maize seed through government-designated distribution channels.
Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe said the measures are part of President William Ruto’s administration’s shift from subsidising consumption to supporting production by lowering the cost of farm inputs.
The government said the latest intervention is intended to help farmers recover from drought, increase production and strengthen food security.
In 2022, a 50kg bag of fertiliser retailed at approximately Sh7,500 before the National Fertiliser Subsidy Programme brought the price down to Sh2,500.
The latest reduction to Sh2,000 represents a drop of more than 73 per cent from the 2022 price.
Since 2022, approximately 33.55 million 50kg bags of subsidised fertiliser have been distributed to about 1.98 million farmers, with government support amounting to approximately Sh78.79 billion.
The government said the interventions have contributed to increased agricultural production, with maize output rising from 34.3 million 90kg bags in 2022 to 73 million bags in 2025.
Maize imports also declined by more than 66.5 per cent over the same period.
Kagwe said the gains must be protected despite the effects of drought.
“At the heart of this intervention is a simple principle: a farmer who has lost a crop to drought must not also lose the ability to plant the next crop because fertiliser and seed are beyond reach,” the CS said.
The government said it would continue supporting farmers to recover from drought while investing in irrigation, water harvesting and other climate-smart interventions to strengthen the country’s resilience to changing weather patterns.