Principal Secretary for Industry Juma Mukhwana has warned that Kenya’s heavy dependence on imported raw materials is undermining the growth and sustainability of the manufacturing sector, citing persistent shortages in key agricultural inputs and the limits of agro-based industrialization.
Speaking during an interview on Radio Generation, Mukhwana said that while Kenya has invested significantly in processing capacity, domestic production of raw materials remains inadequate.
“If you got wheat, for example, our installed wheat milling capacity — the country can only produce about 20 to 25 percent,” he said, noting that “75 percent of the wheat that we need for ourselves and for the region has to be imported.”
He added that maize presents a similar challenge, despite strong milling capacity. “We rely heavily on the region. So we have to import a lot of maize from Uganda, from Tanzania, for us to sustain,” he said.
The situation is equally dire in the sugar sector, where shortages force factories to shut down for months. “If you look at sugar cane, we have to close down the factories for three months. There’s no sugar cane,” Mukhwana explained.
The PS said seasonal production is another major constraint, citing avocado processing plants that remain idle for months due to lack of supply.
“Many of us don’t know that you have an avocado processing plant that is closed four months out of a year because there’s no avocado in the country,” he said, adding that some processors are forced to import avocados “all the way from Burundi” just to keep operations running.
While acknowledging the success of agriculture-led initiatives — including Kenya’s rise to become Africa’s leading avocado producer — Mukhwana said agro-processing alone cannot anchor long-term industrial growth.
“Even if you plant avocado today, you need four years for it to go into production,” he noted. “Agro is limiting in terms of the land size and how much you can produce.”
As a result, the government is shifting focus to diversifying manufacturing into non-agricultural sectors. Mukhwana pointed to growing investments in steel, cement, ceramics, pharmaceuticals, agro-inputs, sanitary products and construction materials as areas with strong potential.
He highlighted renewed momentum in the leather industry, revealing that a new leather industrial park has been completed.
“Last week, we advertised for people who want to come and do their manufacturing there, and the response is quite overwhelming,” he said.
Mukhwana also reflected on Kenya’s stalled industrialization, blaming past structural adjustment programs for weakening local capacity.
“We privatized ahead of time. We did not have local capacity,” he said, adding that premature liberalization “kind of stole our industrialization dream.”
He said the renewed push to rebuild manufacturing is aimed at reclaiming that lost ground and securing a more resilient, diversified industrial base for the country.
