Fertilizer retailing in the Kenyan highlands

Local retailers of agricultural supplies in developing countries occupy an important link in the dissemination of agricultural technologies but little is documented on their business activities in the Highlands of Kenya. Keny a's fertilizer markets were liberalized in 1990 and since then a steady inc rease in the proportion of fertilizers imported through commercial channels has occurred. A short, formal survey was conducted among 139 retailers in 74 market centres located in six Provinces of Kenya. Business operators wer e asked about the formulations and prices of fertilizers sold, product repa ckaging, sources and dissemination of product information, sales trends and the availability and extension of credit. Retailers were found to market a total of 17 different fertilizers, with each retailer marketing an average of 4.5 types. Retailers provided specific recommendations concerning their products to farmers with 81% considering this an important part of their b usiness activities. Many retailers' recommendations are based upon written information and testing on family farms but others were unable to justify t he basis of their recommendations. More than twice as many retailers extend ed credit to customers (31%) than was extended to them by their suppliers ( 14%). Two important national indicators of fertilizer marketing, total supp ly and consumption, do not significantly differ when the seven years before and after onset of market reforms started in 1990 are compared but other, more subtle national indicators suggest that successful fertilizer marketin g reforms are in progress. There is a significant decrease in the proportio n of annual 'carry-over' of fertilizer stocks (p = 0.04) resulting from a s hift from distribution by parastatal to privatized operations and a signifi cant positive trend in commercial fertilizer imports over time since the im plementation of market reforms (r = 0.97).