The Ministry of Agriculture, on Wednesday, February 8, unveiled the fertilizer e-voucher redemption programme with seven application steps.
This was in line with President Wiliam Ruto’s promise to launch the electronic voucher fertiliser subsidy programme. The president sought to address the challenges of input thefts that marred the previous processes.
He opined that the government would continue to subsidise the price of fertilizer and that farmers would buy fertilizers at Ksh3,500 per bag.
How to Apply for E-Voucher
Step 1. The farmer submits his or her data at the Assistant Chief’s offices countrywide where an E-Subsidy voucher is assigned.
Step 2. An SMS notification will then be sent to the farmer on the voucher & redemption instructions.
Step 3. Farmers are then to visit the National Cereals And Produce Board (NCPB), Cooperatives, and the Kenya National Trading Corporation (KNTC) Warehouse with vouchers and Identification cards (ID).
Step 4. Upon reaching the warehouse, an attendant validates the farmer’s identity and starts the voucher redemption process.
Step 5. After the validation, the farmer is prompted to make payment on M-PESA based on the bags purchased.
Step 6. The farmer is then issued the fertilizer as purchased
Step 7. After purchasing, the farmer receives an SMS prompt on his/her phone to confirm fertilizer receipt.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, 4.3 million farmers were already registered in the programme.
Additionally, the ministry revealed that the government had subsidised 500,000 Mega Tonnes of various types of fertilizer for the 2023 long showers of rain.
The rollout of the digital e-voucher programme comes in the backdrop of CS Mithika Linturi launching phase two of the Kenya Integrated Agriculture Management Information System (KIAMIS) on February 6, 2023.
KIAMIS is a digital platform with various components that facilitate farmer registration and establish a national central farmers’ database.
Source: kENYANS.CO.KE