Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe has signaled a new approach in Kenya’s engagement with development partners, warning that the country will reject agricultural projects designed externally without consideration for local realities.
Speaking on Tuesday at a national–county consultative forum with the World Bank Group, Kagwe emphasized that Kenya wants to set and co-fund its own agricultural priorities.
“We are not the same. Our needs are different. We want to be initiators and co-designers. We will reject projects that we have not tailored,” Kagwe said, underlining a clear shift from traditional donor-led approaches. The forum, which included governors, county executive committee members, officials from the National Treasury and Economic Planning, and the World Bank country team, focused on aligning donor support with local agricultural needs.
Kagwe stressed that agricultural programmes must be designed internally, with counties leading the process to ensure interventions reflect their specific production systems and challenges.
He encouraged counties to align their plans with national digital platforms such as the Kenya Agricultural Digital Inclusive Platform (KADIC) and the Kenya Integrated Agricultural Management Information System (KIAMIS), which enhance coordination, transparency, and impact across the sector.
Currently, about 7.2 million farmers are registered on KIAMIS, with 5.5 million receiving digital advisory services covering agronomy, weather patterns, and market access. Kagwe said these systems are central to transforming agriculture into a data-driven and inclusive sector.
The forum also reviewed the progress of two World Bank-funded programmes: the National Agricultural Value Chain Development Project (NAVCDP) and the Food Systems Resilience Programme (FSRP), which together total Sh49.5 billion. Kagwe reminded participants that the funds are loans, not grants, and urged strict financial discipline. “These are loans that must be repaid. We must ensure value for money and proper use of resources,” he said.
Kagwe raised concern over Kenya’s Sh500 billion annual food import bill, calling it unsustainable. He outlined plans to boost local production through public-private partnership lease models, land commercialisation initiatives, and expanded livestock vaccination and traceability programmes.
He described the forum as marking a break from traditional donor-recipient relationships, emphasizing the need for co-creation in agricultural development.
He added that governors must now become “architects of their own agricultural transformation strategies,” using both political and administrative authority to build sustainable food systems that meet the country’s unique needs.
