Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi has revealed that Kenyan farmers saved an estimated Sh105 billion through the government’s fertiliser subsidy programme as maize production surged and imports fell sharply over the last three years.
Presenting the 2026/27 Budget in Parliament on Thursday, Mbadi pointed to agriculture as one of the strongest indicators of the gains made under the Kenya Kwanza administration, saying increased support to farmers had boosted local food production and reduced the country’s reliance on imported maize.
According to the CS, fertiliser distribution increased from 1.4 million bags in 2022 to 21.3 million bags in 2025, while the price of a 50-kilogramme bag dropped from Sh7,500 to about Sh2,500.
The reduction, he said, enabled farmers to save approximately Sh105 billion over two years and invest more resources in production.
The impact was evident in maize farming.
Mbadi told lawmakers that maize production almost doubled from 34 million bags in 2022 to 67 million bags in 2025.
At the same time, maize imports dropped significantly from 9.9 million bags to 3.3 million bags, a shift that the government attributes to improved local output.
The increase in production also pushed down the cost of maize flour, with the average price of a two-kilogramme packet falling from Sh250 in 2022 to Sh165 in 2025.
The latest figures are likely to strengthen the government’s argument that subsidised fertiliser has played a key role in improving food production at a time when many countries continue to grapple with food insecurity and rising living costs.
The figures come amid renewed debate over the state of the economy as the government seeks to defend its record on the cost of living ahead of the next General Election.
For Mbadi, however, the numbers tell a different story, one of rising farm production, lower imports and cheaper unga on supermarket shelves.