President William Ruto has announced further reduction in the cost of subsidised fertiliser to KSh2,000 for a 50-kilogramme bag as the government seeks to cushion farmers who have been negatively impacted by the persistent drought and below-average rainfall.

Speaking at the Agriculture and Food Security Transformation Summit at Jamhuri Park in Nairobi on Thursday, October 8, 2026, Ruto said the lowering of the cost of fertilisers was to cushion the financial burden of the input for farmers, and ensure food production.

“We have lowered the price of fertiliser further for this season, further to KSh2,000,” Ruto said.

The announcement comes a year after the government reduced the price of a 50kg bag of fertiliser from KSh7,000 and further to KSh2,500 in a bid to boost food production, before it was further lowered to KSh2,000 from September. The Deputy President, Kithure Kindiki, confirmed the price of fertiliser at the summit on Wednesday.

The government has also slashed the cost of certified maize seed by 50 percent, with the price going from KSh300 to KSh150 per kilogramme. Ruto first announced the seed subsidy in August as part of the preparations for the planting season.

The interventions are in the wake of the below-average rainfall that has affected several agricultural counties in Kenya. Ruto had earlier committed to lowering the cost of fertiliser and seeds to help farmers mitigate the impact of the weather phenomenon and protect national food security.

Kindiki said the government has so far distributed more than 34 million bags of subsidised fertilisers and that they had saved farmers about KSh100 billion on the cost of production.

He added that the government will extend its support to certified seeds, animal feeds, farm implements, veterinary services and farm finance.

The government is set to implement the measures as it grapples with the impacts of food production brought about by the dry weather. The agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe has predicted that Kenya will need to import up to 25 million 90-kilogramme bags of maize to alleviate the shortfall resulting from the dry spells.

The lower cost of fertilisers is meant to lower the cost of production for farmers while ensuring there is no shortage of food due to the weather fluctuations.