17,500 Bungoma farmers to get subsidised fertilisers, maize seeds

Bungoma County today started issuing subsidised fertiliser and seeds to 17,500 vulnerable farmers.

The second phase, to come later in the planting season, will have the same farmers issued with top dressing fertiliser.

According to Deputy Governor Prof Charles Kibanani Ngome, 450 farmers from each of the 45 wards were picked to benefit from the Subsidy Programme.

Under this initiative, each farmer will receive a 50kg non-acidified fertilizer and 10kgs of maize seed.

The County Subsidy Programme is part of Governor Wycliffe Wangamati’s initiative to boost household food security in the region.

In 2017, Bungoma produced 3.8 million bags of maize.

Last year, courtesy of the subsidised farm inputs, harvest per acre rose from 10 bags to 17, pushing the overall production of maize to 4.1 million bags on 95,000 acres of land.

According to CEC Agriculture Mathews Makanda, the County hopes to have distributed all the inputs to all farmers in under two weeks starting today.

Beneficiaries include widows, people living with disability and vulnerable households identified through public participation in each ward.