President William Ruto has unveiled an ambitious plan to end Kenya's reliance on maize imports by next year, with a broader goal to cease importing wheat, rice, and edible oils within the next five years.
The announcement, made during a meeting with Kenyans in the United States in Atlanta on May 20, signals a significant shift in Kenya's agricultural policy aimed at boosting local production and reducing dependency on foreign supplies.
"We are going to invest in production. By next year, we are not going to be importing a grain of maize. We will move on to rice, wheat, and in five years, the one billion dollars we use in import of edible oils," President Ruto declared.
This bold initiative could significantly impact Kenya's primary maize suppliers—Uganda, Tanzania, and Zambia—potentially altering regional trade dynamics. Ruto's administration aims to bolster domestic agricultural production through enhanced investment and policy support.
In order to end maize imports, Kenya must produce in excess of 60 million bags of maize annually to meet the demand that stood at 50 million bags in 2019 and is projected to grow to 60 million bags by 2025. Kenya's annual production target has been 40 million bags or approximately 3.6 million tons.
The President praised the steady decline in the price of two-kilogram maize flour, attributing the improvement to increased production and government initiatives. "We will not relent in making investments in agriculture, whether it’s popular or not," Ruto stated firmly.
Already, Kenya's maize production has notably improved over the past two years. The 2024 Economic Survey by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) supports Ruto's claims, reporting a 38.8 per cent increase in maize production to 47.6 million bags in 2023.
This surge is credited to expanded cultivation areas, government procurement guarantees under the minimum returns principle, favorable weather conditions, and greater access to subsidised fertilizer.
This comes as a preliminary report showed that Kenya's food import expenditure soared by nearly Ksh100 billion in the year leading up to September 2023, highlighting the severe impacts of prolonged drought and global supply chain disruptions.
The country spent a record Ksh338.96 billion on food and beverages during this period, up from Ksh239.98 billion the previous year, according to official data.
The growing import bill, which surpassed expenditure on machinery and other capital goods by Ksh61.04 billion, underscores the urgency of Ruto's agricultural reforms. Notably, expenditure on capital goods, primarily used in production processes, declined by Ksh25.36 billion (8.36 per cent) to Ksh277.92 billion during the same period.
In addition to maize, Ruto aims to end the importation of edible oils within five years. His administration has initiated investments in the cultivation of soya, sunflower, and canola, with plans to develop local palm oil production.
"I want to make sure that sunflower, soya, canola, and palm oil are grown in Kenya, so we don’t have to import again," Ruto stressed.
Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mithika Linturi previously reported that Kenya imported 720,000 metric tonnes of crude and ready-to-use vegetable oil in the last year, valued at Ksh98.9 billion. This placed edible oil imports among the country's top imports after petroleum.
