Ruto strikes deal with Australia to manufacture affordable fertilizer
Ruto strikes deal with an Australian company to manufacture affordable fertilizer in a bid to lower food prices.
President William Ruto has entered into an agreement with an Australian firm, Fortescue Future Industries to develop an affordable green fertilizer facility.
A 300MW green ammonia and green fertilizer complex will be built by Fortescue Future Industries and the Government of Kenya by 2025, according to the agreement signed on Monday, November 7 in Egypt.
President William Ruto, who witnessed the signing of the agreement, said the move furthers Kenya’s green energy transition.
“The shift will help reduce our reliance on imports, check the high cost of fertiliser, and boost food production,” he said.
Fortescue Executive Chairman and Founder Dr. Andrew Forrest said the partnership will create thousands of new jobs in Kenya.
Before the presidential election on August 9th, Ruto chose to make Kenyan fertilizer manufacture one of his campaign promises.
On September 13, 2022, the president announced to the public that his government had cut the price of fertilizer from Ksh 6,500 to Ksh 3,500 for a 50-kilogram bag through subsidies.
In addition, President Ruto vowed that his administration has already made 1.4 million bags of fertilizer available to support food production during the anticipated brief rains.
“The forecast for maize harvest this year is below 30 million bags against the normal production of 40 million bags. The main cause of the decline in production is the high cost of inputs,” said President Ruto.
According to the president, the immediate priority intervention is to ensure that fertilizer, quality seeds, and other farm inputs are available at affordable prices, which should see the cost of food fall.
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