Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe has ordered the destruction of 27,518 bags of expired fertilizer held in various National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) stores nationwide.
In a statement on Thursday, March 13, Kagwe said the destruction of the expired fertilizer bags will be supervised by the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS).
He noted that the expired fertilizer consignment was delivered to NCPB by Fine Tech Edge Ltd between December 27, 2024, and January 6, 2025.
“The Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) is to supervise the safe destruction of this consignment of Sulphate of Ammonia (21%) fertilizer that was delivered to NCPB by Fine Tech Edge Ltd between 27th December 2024 and the 6th January 2025,” read part of the statement.
The Agriculture CS mentioned that before contract execution, samples of the fertilizer were drawn by KEBS for testing and the results indicated that the fertilizer complied with the requirement for Sulphate of Ammonia (21%N) and NPK fertilizers as per Kenyan standards.
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The consignment was then delivered to NCPB after a greenlight from KEBS was a total of 34,100 bags.
However, upon supply, NCPB noted that the bags had a short shelf-life, which was to lapse on February 28, 2025, as indicated in the packaging material.
“The supplier was notified of the same and requested to deliver fertilizer with a longer shelf life, as the entire consignment was unlikely to be sold by the end of February. Per standard operating procedures, the unsold fertilizer would not be released to the market and would be safely destroyed,” Kagwe stated.
He also said that the NCPB management issued a sale stoppage order of the same consignment on February 27 and KEBS seized the fertilizer on March 4, 2025, and has stopped any movement of the same until safe destruction.
Further, CS Kagwe said the government will not incur any losses as the supply of the fertilizer is on a consignment basis, and the ownership vests with the supplier until when the fertilizer is sold.
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