Fertiliser firm Mea seeks expansion in East Africa

Leading fertiliser blender, Mea Limited, with 40 per cent share of the Kenyan fertiliser market in its hands, is now eyeing the wider East African market. The company was established in 1977 to supply farm inputs.

Mea recently received delegates from various farming associations in eastern Africa at its Nakuru factory. The visitors, under the auspices of the East Africa Farmers Federation, were in Kenya for a farmers' meeting.

The General Manager of Mea, Eustace Muriuki, who conducted the delegates through various procedures of blending fertilisers said the company, which was already in Uganda through stockists, was set to open another company, Mea Tanzania, in Morogoro next month. Muriuki sees the company expanding to Rwanda, Malawi and Zambia in the next few years.

Muriuki said although there was a huge fertiliser market in East Africa, dealers could not reach farmers because they lacked transport. He appealed for harmonisation of standards in the region so that goods certified in one East African country do not undergo further testing in neighbouring states.

The president of the East Africa Farmers Federation (EAFF), Mr. Philip Kiriro, said farmers would only partner with suppliers who also educated them on the use of their products. "How would it feel for a farmer who spent all his money on inputs to harvest nothing for lack of information on usage?" he posed.

A Ugandan delegate who is also the EAFF vice-chairman, Mr. Chebet Maikut, challenged Mea to penetrate the untapped market in his country. "It is well documented that Uganda uses the lowest amount of fertiliser per acre in the world," he said, and urged Mea to take a rigorous educational campaign there to reach all farmers including those from the remote countryside.

A DRC delegate, Mr. Paluku Mivimba, appealed to Mea to visit his country and help farmers to test soil, saying the last time soils were tested in Congo was during the colonial days.

Business Daily