An unfolding scandal within the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) has exposed what appears to be a well-orchestrated and entrenched scheme of corruption involving depot managers and fertiliser cartels, leaving thousands of legitimate smallholder farmers across the country in a state of desperation and betrayal.
At the heart of this rot is the government’s subsidised fertilizer programme, a key initiative designed to support agricultural productivity and ease the financial burden on the country’s farming population.
However, at multiple NCPB depots across the country, this well-intentioned subsidy has been captured by illicit networks operating with shocking impunity and coordination.
Insiders reveal that as soon as consignments of fertilizer arrive at the designated depots, they are not made available to the intended beneficiaries, registered local farmers, but are instead diverted to a network of well-connected intermediaries and profiteers, often referred to as “cartels,” who acquire the fertilizer in bulk directly from depot managers.
These actors then hoard and resell the subsidised input at inflated prices in the open market, effectively locking out genuine farmers and creating artificial scarcity.
The scheme appears not to be a matter of administrative lapse or logistical bottlenecks, but rather a deeply embedded, systemic pattern of deliberate diversion, facilitated by NCPB insiders who have weaponised access to this vital agricultural input.
Sources familiar with internal depot operations describe a standard playbook of pre-arranged deals, falsified distribution lists, backdoor deliveries, and routine denial of fertilizer availability to walk-in farmers, all enabled by depot officials operating with impunity.
The situation is especially dire in the regions named, which are among the country’s most agriculturally active areas.
Farmers in Tala and Kithimani have reported waiting for weeks under the scorching sun with nothing to show for their effort but empty promises, while fertilizer continues to vanish in full truckloads under suspicious circumstances.
In Kibwezi and Emali, reports suggest that local cooperatives have been sidelined in favour of politically connected intermediaries.
Konza and Thika depots have also been implicated in similar patterns of clandestine sales and selective allocation.
The cumulative impact of this organized exploitation is not only the impoverishment of the small-scale farmer who remains the cornerstone of the nation’s agricultural economy but also a direct sabotage of national food security objectives.
The betrayal is particularly severe given the escalating cost of living, rising inflation, and the already volatile climate conditions that continue to strain farming output.
Calls are growing louder for an urgent intervention by the Ministry of Agriculture and relevant oversight bodies.
Many stakeholders now believe that the only viable corrective measure is the immediate and complete transfer of all implicated depot managers to different regions, alongside a full forensic audit of depot inventories, distribution records, and financial transactions.
Below is a firsthand account that captures the frustration and betrayal felt by farmers amid the unfolding corruption at NCPB depots.
“Hi Nyakundi. Something very wrong is happening at NCPB depots and it is hurting real farmers while no one speaks up. In places like Machakos, Tala, Kithimani, Kibwezi, Emali, Konza and Thika, managers are selling subsidised fertilizer straight to cartels the moment it arrives, instead of giving it to the local farmers who have been waiting patiently, sometimes for weeks. This is organized theft happening in broad daylight but behind closed depot gates. Farmers are turned away with empty hands while trucks loaded with fertiliser leave for the black market. That same fertiliser is later sold back to the farmers at double the price. This is choking agriculture and betraying the very people the fertiliser programme was meant to help. All these depot managers should be immediately transferred and investigated. Enough is enough.”
