The government has unveiled a Sh1.08 trillion agriculture investment plan that hinges on the private sector financing nearly half the cost, marking one of Kenya’s biggest bets yet on private capital to transform farming.
The five-year blueprint seeks to mobilise Sh486 billion from businesses and investors while national and county governments contribute 35 percent, reflecting shrinking fiscal space and growing pressure on public finances.
If successful, the programme is poised to reshape Kenya’s food production, create more than two million jobs, raise farmers’ incomes, and reduce dependence on fragmented donor-funded agricultural projects.
“I am calling on the commitment of the County Governments, through the Council of Governors, to achieve this goal,” Agriculture Principal Secretary Jonathan Mueke said while launching the plan in Nairobi.
“The private sector is expected to contribute 45 percent, and the development and bilateral partners’ share is 20 percent of the total investment envelope.”
Proposed financing structure
The investment strategy, known as the National Agri-food Systems Investment Plan 2026-2030, was unveiled during the first day of the Financing Agri-Food Systems Sustainably (FINAS) Summit in Nairobi.
The proposed financing structure marks a departure from previous programmes that relied largely on public expenditure and donor-backed development projects.
The strategy comes as Kenya struggles to balance competing budget priorities amid rising debt-servicing costs and tighter revenue collections that have constrained development spending. Agriculture is Kenya’s largest employer. It supports millions of livelihoods directly and indirectly despite decades of underinvestment in irrigation, storage, processing and agricultural financing.
The sector contributes about one-fifth of the gross domestic product directly, with an even bigger contribution once manufacturing, transport and trade are factored in.
Yet agricultural productivity continues to be undermined by factors such as erratic weather, limited irrigation, expensive financing, fragmented markets, and post-harvest losses.
