Ruto: My plan to make Kenya food-secure and an agricultural export hub

By  Sammy Waweru

Contributor

President William Ruto has outlined plans to transform Kenya’s agriculture sector through expanded irrigation, lower production costs, increased domestic food production, stronger agricultural industries and improved access to export markets, promising farmers better returns on their investments.

The President said the Government was prioritising food security, reducing dependence on imports, creating jobs and positioning Kenya to export more agricultural produce by addressing longstanding challenges affecting farmers across different value chains.

Speaking on Thursday evening during an interactive discussion with farmers at the Agriculture and Food Systems Transformation Summit 2026 at the Agricultural Society of Kenya (ASK) Showgrounds at Jamhuri Park in Nairobi, Dr Ruto said the country had the potential to produce enough food for its population while generating foreign exchange from agricultural exports.

“We cannot continue importing what we can produce here in Kenya. We have to increase our production, reduce the cost of farming and ensure that our farmers make money from their work,” the President said during the engagement, where farmers raised concerns about the cost of animal feed, sugarcane payments, cotton production, irrigation and livestock losses.

The three-day summit, which began on Wednesday, October 7, and ended on Friday, October 9, was held under the theme “Agriculture and Food Systems Transformation — Advancing Food Sovereignty, Job Creation, and Shared Prosperity under BETA”. The inaugural agriculture summit brought together farmers, government officials, county administrations, researchers, agricultural businesses, cooperatives and development partners to assess progress and agree on measures to transform the sector.

The Head of State said the Government was pursuing a shift from dependence on rain-fed agriculture towards irrigation, arguing that recurrent droughts and unpredictable rainfall continued to undermine food production, pastoralism and farmers’ incomes.

He said Kenya needed to invest in dams, water storage and irrigation infrastructure to make more land productive throughout the year. The Government is targeting the expansion of irrigation to 2.5 million acres, supported by plans for major water projects under the proposed National Infrastructure Fund.

“Most of our country is arid and semi-arid (ASAL). We cannot continue to depend on rain to feed our country. We must invest in water, dams and irrigation so that our farmers can produce consistently,” he emphasised.

The President said irrigation would also support the production of animal feed, including fodder and protein-rich crops used in feed manufacturing, helping livestock farmers cope with drought and reducing dependence on imported raw materials.

To address the challenge, animal-feed manufacturers, led by the Animal Feed Manufacturers Association of Kenya (AKEFEMA), are calling for increased production of yellow maize, alongside greater cultivation of fodder crops such as sorghum, Napier grass, Rhodes grass and legumes, to boost feed supplies and reduce competition between humans and livestock for food, particularly white maize. Additionally, Kenya is introducing Juncao grass from China.

On the cost of farm inputs, Dr Ruto cited the fertiliser subsidy programme, which has lowered the price of a 50-kilogramme bag from more than Sh7,000 to Sh2,000. He said the intervention was intended to improve access to fertiliser, increase yields and make farming more affordable.

Official figures presented during the summit indicated that maize production had increased from 34.3 million bags in 2022 to 71 million bags in 2025. The President said the Government intended to build on these gains through irrigation, improved seeds, technology, farmer registration and stronger market linkages.

He said increased production should translate into better earnings for farmers instead of simply expanding the volume of produce entering the market.

The President also challenged farmers and agricultural businesses to embrace value addition, arguing that local processing would create jobs, increase export earnings and reduce the loss of income associated with exporting raw commodities.

Agriculture and Livestock Development Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe said the transformation agenda must be measured by the changes farmers experience at the farm level, including lower production costs, higher productivity and better prices for their produce.

“The smallholder farmer must be able to produce more efficiently, spend less, earn better returns and participate meaningfully in the markets created by their production,” the Cabinet Secretary said.

Mr Kagwe said the Government was pursuing a more commercially driven agricultural model, with private-sector investment expected to play a central role in expanding production, processing and marketing. The approach includes making land available for commercial agriculture and restructuring struggling State-owned agricultural enterprises to improve efficiency.

Echoing the President’s concerns over the food import bill, the Cabinet Secretary said Kenya’s heavy reliance on imported food was unsustainable, citing its impact on foreign exchange reserves, employment and local producers. The Government is seeking to increase domestic production of commodities such as wheat, rice, edible oils, cotton and sugar, alongside livestock feed, to narrow the gap between local supply and demand.

Earlier in the day, Dr Ruto called for an overhaul of Kenya’s food production system, saying the country must urgently reduce its Sh3 trillion food import bill by increasing domestic production of commodities that account for a large share of the import burden.

During the farmers’ engagement, Dr Ruto said the sugar industry was among the sectors where Government interventions were intended to restore production, improve factory operations and ensure growers received better returns.

“Since we rolled out reforms in the sugar sector, payments to sugarcane farmers have increased from approximately Sh4,500 to Sh5,500 per tonne, while national sugar production has risen from about 500,000 tonnes in 2022 to approximately 850,000 tonnes in 2026,” he said.

The Government is targeting one million tonnes in 2027, with the longer-term ambition of making Kenya a net exporter. The President said Kenya expected to begin exporting sugar by 2029 as the country sought to achieve self-sufficiency in sugar production. He said the revival of sugar factories and increased cane production could reduce the need for imports while supporting farmers, factory workers and businesses linked to the industry.

He cited improvements at Mumias Sugar, including the expansion of its farmer base, increased employment and plans to revive its distillery. The Government, he said, had also set aside Sh1.2 billion for another round of sugarcane farmer bonuses in November 2026.

“The industry needs to diversify into products made from sugarcane by-products to generate additional revenue and improve its capacity to pay farmers promptly,” he said.

He also addressed disputes surrounding the Kenya Sugar Board and the utilisation of the sugar levy. The President said approximately Sh4 billion had been collected through the levy and was intended to support cane development, seed cane distribution, research and infrastructure in sugar-growing areas.

He called for the resolution of disputes delaying the constitution of the board, saying farmers needed functioning institutions to ensure that money collected from the industry was used for its intended purposes.

Cotton production was another issue raised during the interactive discussion. Dr Ruto said the Government had licensed Bt cotton and would include cotton seed in the agricultural subsidy programme as part of efforts to revive the industry. Bt cotton was commercialised in Kenya in 2019, with farmers in cotton-growing areas reporting increased production.

He said the technology offered an opportunity to improve yields and reduce some of the production costs facing growers, although farmers also needed support in accessing pesticides, fertiliser, financing, mechanisation and aggregation services.

Dr Ruto asked representatives of the National Cotton Growers Cooperative Union to present their proposals for reviving the industry, including the support required to improve production and strengthen farmers’ bargaining power.

The President said cotton had the potential to support domestic textile manufacturing, create employment and reduce dependence on imported raw materials.

Livestock farmers also raised concerns about the high cost of animal feed and losses caused by drought. Dr Ruto said the Government was pursuing both immediate and long-term measures, including removing import duty on yellow maize and animal-feed concentrates while expanding local production of fodder and protein crops.

“The country needs to produce more of the raw materials used by feed manufacturers, particularly soya and sunflower products, instead of relying heavily on imports,” he said, urging the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development to ensure that manufacturers passed the benefits of reduced import costs on to farmers.

The Government is also promoting commercial fodder production on available land, alongside irrigation, to improve feed availability during dry periods. The President said reliable water and feed supplies were essential to reducing livestock deaths and strengthening the pastoral economy.

On livestock value addition, Dr Ruto said Kenya needed to process more hides and skins locally instead of exporting raw materials. He cited investment in the Kenanie Industrial Leather Park in Machakos, which is intended to attract manufacturers and create jobs while increasing the value of livestock products.

“Improved handling of hides and skins at slaughterhouses, better processing facilities and stronger markets could increase the income earned by livestock producers.”

The Government is also seeking to expand fish production through aquaculture, with the President saying fisheries could contribute to food security, employment and the supply of protein ingredients for animal feed.

Principal Secretary for the State Department of Livestock Jonathan Mueke has been involved in the Government’s livestock transformation agenda, which focuses on animal health, productivity, commercialisation and stronger markets.

“We are piloting the cultivation of Juncao grass across all counties to help reduce the cost of animal feed,” Mr Mueke said during the presidential town hall discussion with farmers at the Agriculture and Food Systems Transformation Summit.

President Ruto said the Government would continue engaging farmers to identify bottlenecks and determine the interventions needed across different value chains.

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