Agriculture contributes about 25 per cent of Kenya’s GDP, but only 3 per cent of commercial bank loans go to the sector, Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe has said.
Kagwe raised the concern while addressing the 2026 World Food Forum in Rome, Italy, where he called for more investment in farming and businesses that depend on agricultural produce.
He said Kenya was now looking to mobilise KSh1.25 trillion under the National AgriFood Systems Investment Plan (NASIP) to support farmers and other players in the sector.
The money is expected to come from the government, private investors and blended financing, and will cover crop farming, livestock, fisheries and agribusiness.
Kagwe said the government was also looking at ways to make credit more accessible to farmers. One of the approaches is to strengthen farmer-owned SACCOs, which can help farmers access financing.
The government is also turning to technology, including artificial intelligence to assess credit, precision farming and systems that track produce from the farm to the market.
But Kagwe said farmers must remain at the centre of these efforts, with the government creating the right conditions for farming businesses to grow and private investors helping to open up markets.
He also called for more focus on processing agricultural produce locally and ensuring farmers get fair and transparent prices for their goods.
The plan comes as Kenya seeks to attract more money into agriculture, a sector that supports livelihoods across the country. Kagwe’s remarks point to a gap between the sector’s contribution to the economy and the amount of credit it receives from commercial banks.
The key question is whether the planned investment will reach farmers and give them the financing and market access they need to grow their businesses.
