A 564-tonne consignment of Russian fertiliser donated to Kenya by Russia last year disappeared in the high seas, indicating possible theft of agricultural input.
The 34,400-tonne raw fertiliser material was part of Kenya’s charm offensive against Ukraine. The missing consignment did not arrive at Mombasa port.
“NCPB (National Cereals and Produce Board) received 33,835.9 metric tonnes hence a short landing of 564.1 metric tonnes from the 34,400 metric tonnes of fertiliser raw materials donated from Russia. The cause of the short landing was not explained,” notes Ms Gathungu in an audit on NCPB.
The 564 tonnes of the missing raw fertiliser would have produced 1,643 tonnes of ready-to-use fertiliser, valued at Sh197 million at the market price of Sh6,000 for a 50kg bag.
The Russian Embassy in Kenya in August last year noted that the 34,400 tonnes that Moscow donated to Nairobi would produce 100,200 tonnes of the finished product after reformulation.
“More than 34,000 tonnes of fertiliser donated to Kenya by the Russian Uralchem-Uralkali Group are now being reformulated to produce 100,200 tonnes of fertiliser. This will help Kenya a lot to get a good harvest this year,” the Embassy stated on August 3, following the landing of the input in the country.
Russia donated 34,400 tonnes of fertiliser to alleviate rising global fertilizer prices following Ukraine’s invasion in February 2022.
The sanctions limited natural gas availability, impacting farmers and causing food crises.
Although natural gas prices have decreased, Europe’s fertiliser industry still struggles with Russian imports.
