Effects of Fertilizer Price Subsidies on Fertilizer Use among Farmers in Kenya. A Critical Literature Review

Purpose: Food security is paramount to the well-being of any nation and Kenya having Agriculture as its main stay, needs to increase her food production. The benefits of fertilizer use technology have been communicated variously and efforts to increase fertilizer use are a concern for the government of Kenya. The study is therefore an attempt to generate vital information to supplement the studies that have already been done on increase of fertilizer use to ensure increased food productivity and the effects of fertilizer subsidies Methodology: The paper used a desk study review methodology where relevant empirical literature was reviewed to identify main themes and to extract knowledge gaps. Conclusion: Cost of fertilizer, availability of alternatives to fertilizer and weather patterns were found to have negative effects on fertilizer use. Of these three, availability of alternatives had the highest negative effect on fertilizer use followed by the weather patterns. It is interesting to note that the cost of fertilizer had the least effect on fertilizer use in this study. Recommendations: Alternatives to fertilizer are also seen to strongly, negatively affect fertilizer use, however, any government policy concerning them must be carefully considered given increased productivity that is attributable to alternatives to fertilizer and also the health benefits that are associated with this fertilizer alternatives.