Kenya is seeking to turn its biological resources, scientific knowledge and growing innovation capacity into new industries, jobs and higher-value products as the country positions itself to become a leader in Africa’s bioeconomy.
Prime Cabinet Secretary and Cabinet Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs Musalia Mudavadi said the Kenya National Bioeconomy Strategy 2026–2036 provides a 10-year framework for using science, research, technology and innovation to support economic growth and address challenges facing the country.
Mudavadi spoke on Tuesday during the launch of the strategy at Windsor Golf Hotel & Country Club in Nairobi.
He said the strategy goes beyond science and environmental conservation, describing it as an economic and industrial plan that supports the Government’s Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA).
“It provides a strategic response to some of the challenges confronting our economy, including exposure to external trade shocks, economic volatility, high unemployment and the growing effects of climate change. That is the economic proposition at the heart of this Strategy,” said Dr. Mudavadi.
He said the bioeconomy could help strengthen Kenya’s economic resilience while creating opportunities for young people and supporting sustainable and inclusive growth.
Mudavadi said the strategy will promote the use of biological resources and research across key sectors, including agriculture, health, energy and industry.
“The Strategy provides a framework for harnessing bio-based solutions across agriculture, health, energy, and industry, and I emphasised the transformative potential of the bioeconomy in driving innovation, creating jobs, and safeguarding the environment,” said Mudavadi.
The Prime Cabinet Secretary said Kenya has several advantages that could support the development of a strong bioeconomy, including its biological diversity, productive agricultural sector, research community, young population and growing innovation ecosystem.
“We have extraordinary biological diversity, a productive agricultural sector, a growing scientific and research community, a young population and an increasingly dynamic innovation ecosystem. The question is no longer whether we have the resources to build a bioeconomy, but whether we have the vision and determination to turn those resources into greater prosperity for our people,” said Dr. Mudavadi.
He said the country must now focus on extracting greater value from its biological resources rather than remaining largely dependent on the production and export of primary commodities.
Mudavadi said Kenya should turn knowledge into businesses, research into practical solutions and innovation into industries capable of creating employment and competing in regional and global markets.
“We must therefore look beyond the production and export of primary. Our ambition must be to increase domestic value addition, develop competitive bio-based products and industries, commercialise innovations and support enterprises that are capable of competing successfully in regional and global markets,” said Dr. Mudavadi.
He linked the bioeconomy strategy to BETA, saying the wider economic agenda seeks to improve productivity, strengthen value chains, create jobs and ensure economic growth benefits ordinary Kenyans.
“The bioeconomy gives us an important opportunity to take the biological resources that Kenya possesses in abundance and transform them into higher-value products, enterprises, industries and jobs, through science, research, technology and innovation,” said PCS.
Mudavadi also called for increased financing for research and innovation, saying Kenya needs capital that can help promising ideas move from research and early development into commercial businesses.
He said the Government has committed to progressively increasing research and development spending towards 2 per cent of Gross Domestic Product.
“The Government has committed to progressively increasing investment in research and development towards 2 per cent of our Gross Domestic Product. This reflects our recognition that research and innovation are not peripheral to development; they are fundamental drivers of productivity, competitiveness and long-term economic transformation.”
He said public investment should help attract private capital and strategic partnerships, while the Government works to reduce barriers facing innovators and businesses.
Mudavadi said a proposed Bioeconomy Investment and Financing Roadmap will help identify investment opportunities, build partnerships and connect priority enterprises and value chains to suitable sources of finance.
He said the launch of the strategy marks the beginning of a process that must now translate plans into actual investments, products and businesses.
“Our task now is to turn ambition into investment, research into products, innovation into enterprises and our biological wealth into sustainable economic opportunity,” he said.
Mudavadi said young Kenyans working in laboratories, farms, universities and innovation hubs should be able to move their ideas into viable enterprises.
“That is the promise of the bioeconomy. It is a promise that Kenya will not merely participate in the industries of the future, but will have the confidence and capacity to help build them. It is also a reminder that our greatest natural advantage is not simply what lies beneath our soil or grows upon it. It is what we can do with the knowledge, ingenuity and creativity of our people,” said PCS.