NAIROBI, Kenya — The government of Kenya recently announced that sales of farm inputs, including fertilizer and other chemicals, will become automated through a data network directly connecting Kenyan farmers to suppliers. While the government has yet to contract a developer to create the system, suppliers of government-subsidized agricultural products need to register this September. Kenyan officials intend for the network to keep prices low for farmers who need to buy fertilizer and other supplies.
While Kenya employs subsidy systems to help farmers afford inputs, Kenyan farmers do not always benefit from the low prices. A major problem in Kenya is that traders “buy all the fertilizer from the board and later sell to farmers” at higher prices, according to Kenyan agriculture authority Ephraim Wachira. This defeats the purpose of government subsidies and makes it harder for farmers to pay.
Automation would solve this issue by cutting out traders and allowing for direct transfers between suppliers and farmers. Registered dealers and receivers will be able to communicate and make transactions with text messages and the Internet. All farm trades would be made through the database, making it easier for the government to detect fraud and exploitation.
Kenya’s fertilizer subsidy program reaches 2.5 million farmers across Kenya, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization reports. Subsidies can be as high as 100 percent for the first two bags; the policy is designed to give poor farmers access to critical farming supplies. Exploitation of the program harms both the government and hundreds of small farming communities.
Excluding profiteers from the subsidy process is vital because many farmers in Kenya do not have the discretionary income to pay for expensive fertilizer. According to the U.N. International Fund for Agricultural Development, 70 percent of Kenya’s poor live in rural areas, and agriculture is the primary source of income for three quarters of Kenya’s population.
Without affordable fertilizer, many people will not have steady sources of food or income. Though the program for connecting farmers and sellers has not been created yet, automation should ensure that subsidized fertilizer reaches the people who need it at prices they can afford.
Another advantage of the data network is its use of mobile phones to give farmers direct access to fertilizer suppliers and Kenya’s Ministry of Agriculture. The World Bank found that 93 percent of Kenyans used mobile phones in 2012. Using calls and text messages, farmers would be able to use the database to connect with sellers and receive government reports about supplies and prices.
The government also intends to add a polling feature to the network. This will enable officials to track the success of the network by inquiring how much farmers pay for fertilizer, how much fertilizer companies produce and the how satisfied users are.
Currently, the Kenyan government does not have programmers to create this data network, and the system of automation is in planning stages. Nevertheless, a database for farmers and fertilizer sellers to connect without middlemen is a promising improvement to Kenya’s subsidy policies that can alleviate poverty in the country’s rural areas.
– Ted Rappleye
Sources: Human IPO, FAO Rural Poverty Portal, World Bank e-Library
Photo: flickr