Safaricom is expected to be one of the beneficiaries of the fertiliser subsidy plan after the Ministry of Agriculture said it would use the giant telco in the rollout for the next planting season.
More than 10 million farmers will be able to use Safaricom’s platform through the government-backed e-wallet system as a result of this.
The Ministry of Agriculture has chosen Safaricom to implement the electronic platform due to its dependability and extensive reach across the country.
Agriculture Permanent Secretary Kellow Harsama says a meeting to strategize the use of technology in fertilizer distribution has already begun in order to meet President William Ruto’s deadline for implementation.
“We shall be working with Safaricom on the implementation of this e-subsidy programme to ensure that it is accomplished. We have worked with them on a smaller project before and it was successful,” said Mr Harsama.
Safaricom announced in 2016 that it had developed and deployed a system that would be used in the e-subsidy program after winning the tender in 2015, beating out 29 other companies that had expressed interest.
E-subsidy is an electronic vouchering solution that manages the issuing, redemption, and reconciliation of vouchers on behalf of the Ministry of Agriculture using data and Short Message Service (SMS).
After their information has been collected, the growers will receive a text message from the service provider confirming their registration details, the agro-dealers in their area, and the availability of fertilizer.
President Ruto directed the Ministry of Agriculture earlier this month to develop a digital plan to see farmers receive fertiliser via money transfer on their e-wallets rather than the traditional use of the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) in distribution.
The e-wallet initiative aims to reduce fertiliser theft and misappropriation, which occurred previously when farmers collected the commodity directly from NCPB depots.
The government launched the e-voucher program in a pilot phase in 2020, but it was limited to small-scale farmers in a few counties who received money via mobile phone to buy farm inputs from approved agro vets.
Three years ago, the state discontinued the NCPB-issued subsidy in favour of the e-voucher program. Farmers were issued e-vouchers via mobile phone after validation by extension officers under the e-voucher program. They would then be given a Pay Bill number and a text message confirmation from Safaricom, which they would take to participating agro vets to collect their inputs.
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