The Council of Governors (COG) has called on the National government to devolve the subsidized fertilizer programme to ensure effective planning and distribution.
Led by Tharaka Nithi Governor Muthomi Njuki, the county bosses reiterated that the management of fertilizer to farmers should be done at the county level since it’s the governors who directly interact with farmers knowing their direct needs and specifications when it comes to the fertilizer.
“When we go to the grassroots, our people are asking us to give them a specific variety of fertilizer and not the one that they are given, but all this is beyond our control. We ask the National government to consider this issue,” he said.
Speaking at a Mombasa Hotel, during a consultative forum between National and County government, attended by Cabinet Secretary for Agriculture and Livestock Development, Andrew Karanja and over 20 governors, Governor Njuki, noted that to ensure that the fertilizers align with the types of soils within the various Counties, the issue of fertilizers should be done at the County level.
“We cannot have the “One size fits all” motion as soils are different hence with the allocation of resources within the County, farmers can plan according to their need and crop,” he said.
The CS added that the move will ensure that Counties are held accountable as far as the issue of resources for buying fertilizers and quality is concerned.
He cited different seasons within Counties as a major problem hence the distribution of fertilizers at once tends to be less convenient to others when not in planting season calling for the allocation of funds at the County level to ensure effective planning and to create an enabling and seamless environment for farmers.
COG Chairperson who is also Wajir Governor Ahmed Abdullahi highlighted that the forum aims at deliberating on the issues affecting the agricultural sector including crop production and livestock.
He said that the governors are looking forward to deriving solutions that will drive a significant shift in the agricultural sector.
Governor Abdullahi emphasized on the issue of subsidized fertilizer planning and distribution to be done at the County level considering that agriculture is a devolved function.
“We still have money held at the National government level which should come to the Counties as a grant for us to be able to implement because agriculture is devolved,” reiterated the COG Chairman.
Additionally, he pleaded with the National government to put the matter into consideration noting that the Committee is ready to work in tandem to ensure that farmers benefit accordingly.
Agriculture CS Karanja said that there is need to strengthen the consultative and collaboration processes through a vibrant intergovernmental structure.
Karanja said that more effort by the two levels of government is required in areas of implementation of policies, legal frameworks and strategies, well-structured feedback mechanisms, financial and technical support.
He noted that to facilitate the efforts the government has developed a sector evaluation and monitoring framework, urging the governors to support its implementation by establishing the necessary structures.
“It is critical to appreciate that one of the key drivers for agricultural transformation is county governments who ultimately are the implementers. This is why today’s meeting is premised on the need for collaborative efforts between the two levels of government to actualize the sector initiative,” he said.
Karanja noted that since most of the agriculture functions are devolved, county governments will take the lead in promoting food and nutritional security initiatives.
The CS said that the national government is committed to ensuring that farmers get subsidized fertilizer and other inputs on time.
He added that efforts by the County Governments in providing the last mile in the initiative cannot be over emphasized.
“To support the initiative, counties need to identify, document and recruit reliable agro-dealers to facilitate the process,” he said.
The CS added that it is important for the two governments to continue holding intergovernmental meetings to set precedence for other thematic area stakeholder engagements, to reach out to the national and county levels key stakeholders drawn from the development partners, private sector, individual value chain actors and international experts.
By Chari Suche and Nuru Soud
