ACA seizes 323 bags of subsidised fertiliser repacked in fake Falcon bags in Kakamega

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The Anti-Counterfeit Authority (ACA) has seized 323 bags of fertiliser in Matungu, Kakamega County, that it says were diverted from the government’s subsidy programme and repacked into fake branded sacks for sale at full market prices.

In a statement posted on Friday, October 16, the authority said the fertiliser was worth more than KSh1.6 million. Its officers also impounded two loaded lorries and industrial packaging equipment believed to have been used in the scheme.

Two lorry drivers were arrested and are helping police with investigations. The authority said other people suspected to be part of the network are still being pursued.

How the scheme is said to have worked

According to the ACA, preliminary investigations show the fertiliser was being taken out of the subsidy programme and poured into counterfeit Falcon-branded gunny bags. The repacked product was then meant to be sold to farmers at prevailing commercial prices.

That is where the money in such a scheme lies. Subsidised fertiliser is meant to reach farmers at a lower price than the open market. Once it is stripped of its original packaging and sold under another name, whoever controls it can pocket the gap between the subsidised price and the retail price, while farmers who should have benefited lose out.

The authority also warned that farmers buying repacked fertiliser have no assurance of what is inside the bag.

“The illegal diversion and repackaging of subsidized fertilizer undermines government efforts to make agricultural inputs affordable and accessible to farmers. Beyond infringing intellectual property rights, such practices distort fair competition, expose farmers to potentially substandard products and threaten agricultural productivity and national food security,” ACA Executive Director Robi M. King’a said.

He added: “Protecting the integrity of our agricultural supply chain is essential to safeguarding farmers’ livelihoods and supporting the country’s food security agenda. We remain committed to ensuring that counterfeiters do not exploit systems designed to support agricultural production.”

More enforcement promised in the west

ACA’s Western and Nyanza Regional Manager, Tom Muteti, said the authority would step up enforcement operations across the region. He said sustained surveillance, intelligence sharing and coordinated work between agencies were needed to find and break up networks dealing in illegal farm products.

The seized fertiliser, the two vehicles and the packaging machines have been kept as exhibits while investigations continue.

The authority asked farmers, agro-dealers and the public to be careful when buying farm inputs and to report suspected counterfeiting, illegal repacking or diversion of subsidised fertiliser.

A wider counterfeit problem

The Kakamega seizure came a day after ACA officials told manufacturers and brand owners in Nairobi that fake goods are widespread. At a forum on counterfeit trade on October 15, the authority cited its 2025 Consumer-Level Survey, which found that close to one in five products on the Kenyan market may be fake, costing the economy an estimated KSh800 billion every year.

At the same forum, ACA’s Director of Research, Policy, Planning and Public Awareness, Dr John Akoten, said fake fertiliser and seeds can destroy a farmer’s harvest in a single season. He urged brand owners to record their intellectual property rights with the authority, which he described as “the cheapest insurance a brand can buy in this market”.

The fertiliser case adds to a run of enforcement actions against goods that misuse brands or quality marks. On Saturday the Kenya Bureau of Standards said miraa drink makers face KSh1m fines saying it has certified none of their products, while the Agriculture Ministry has separately put four tea factories on notice over what they pay farmers.

The ACA did not say which suppliers or stores the fertiliser was taken from, or how long the repacking had been going on.