Why farmers complain about fertiliser ‘scarcity’

Farmers queue to buy fertilisers recently. The government touts the block procurement system for helping to save billions of shillings that would have been spent on importing tonnes of Diammonium phosphate and Urea PHOTO | ELIAS MSUYA

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But the Tanzania Fertiliser Regulatory Authority (TFRA) insists that it is the demand for the commodity that has risen by 20 per cent, putting pressure on supply.

Dar es Salaam. Farmers and agro dealers in the Southern Highland regions complain about the shortage of fertilisers.

But the Tanzania Fertiliser Regulatory Authority (TFRA) insists that it is the demand for the commodity that has risen by 20 per cent, putting pressure on supply.

However, dealers cite the fertiliser Bulk Procurement System (BPS) as an obtacle as it was introduced without stakeholders’ consultations.

The government touts the system for helping to save billions of shillings that would have been spent on importing tonnes of Diammonium phosphate (DAP) and Urea.

The system, which provides indicative prices for retail and wholesale, was introduced last year amid resistance from fertiliser firm Yara Tanzania Ltd and the Tanzania Private Sector Foundation.

Some dealers complain that the indicative prices affect supply in remote rural areas.

“Farmers have to incur transport costs from supply centres. Actually, farmers and dealers are hit as the bulk system did not take into account distances to some villages,” said the Makambako chairman of the agro dealers group, Mr Absalom Magoma.

“Urea is scarce…we tried to order it from Premium Agro Chem and they gave us a condition to also buy SA, CAN and DAP. But what we need is Urea,” he said recently.

“The main challenge with the current system is that it does not recognise agents.

Had the agents been recognised, supply could have been smooth.”

Some farmers have opted to use manure and compost as fertilisers are scarce.

“But manure takes time to work,” laments Malombwe villager Anthony Ngelula.

“Maize plants are now turning yellow due to the absence of the fertilisers,” complains another Malombwe farmer Josephine Mfingwa.

According to TFRA acting director general Lazaro Kitandu, the demand for fertilisers increased by 20 per cent in the 2017/18 farming season, when BPS was introduced, cutting prices by 11-40 per cent.

“More people have been buying fertilisers,” he told The Citizen.

TFRA imported 122,000 tonnes of Urea in the last farming season, but only about 90,000 tonnes were utilised.

“In the current season, 115,000 tonnes of Urea have been utilised by this month and the season is yet to end. We expect up to 150,000 tonnes will be utilised by the end of the season. That’s good.”

With farmers using an average of 19 kilos per hectare, Tanzania has one of the lowest fertiliser consumption rates.

Unaffordability has been cited as an impediment.