For Kenyan farmers, the agricultural transformation agenda is increasingly being measured in the price they receive for their produce.
At the Agricultural and Food Security Transformation Summit in Nairobi, Deputy President Kithure Kindiki pointed to improved earnings across several agricultural value chains as evidence that the economics of farming is beginning to change.
Coffee provides one of the clearest examples.
In 2022, farmers were receiving between KSh50 and KSh60 per kilogram. Today, the Deputy President said, farmers receive between KSh120 and KSh150 per kilogram, depending on quality.
“Milk prices have similarly improved, rising from between KSh35 and KSh37 per litre in 2022 to about KSh50 currently.”
The changes come alongside efforts to reduce production costs, including lower fertiliser and certified seed prices.
Fertiliser has fallen from KSh7,000 per bag in 2022 to KSh2,000, while certified maize seed has been reduced from KSh300 to KSh150 per kilogram.
The Government’s stated objective is to ensure that increased agricultural production translates into improved household incomes.
The Deputy President said production of maize had risen from 34 million bags to 75 million bags, while milk production had increased from 4.6 billion litres to 5.2 billion litres.
The gains extend beyond individual farmers to the wider agricultural economy.
Tea earnings have risen from KSh138 billion to KSh181 billion, while the value of meat exports has increased from KSh8.9 billion to KSh12.9 billion.
The dairy sector has also recorded growth, with the value of dairy products increasing from KSh4.9 billion to KSh8.9 billion.
Yet the Government acknowledges that higher production and better prices do not mean all challenges have been resolved.
The Deputy President said rice production remains low and that Kenya must increase domestic production.
Wheat is another area of concern, with Kenya still importing a large portion of its national demand.
The next phase of agricultural transformation will therefore need to address both productivity and market returns.
The Government says it will continue working to reduce the cost of inputs and improve the profitability of farming.
Livestock farmers are also expected to benefit from measures aimed at reducing the cost of animal feed.
At the same time, value addition is being positioned as a route towards increasing farmers’ incomes.
The establishment of County Aggregation and Industrial Parks is intended to give agricultural producers access to facilities where commodities can be processed rather than sold only in raw form.
For farmers, this represents a broader shift, from being producers of commodities to participants in commercial value chains.
The Deputy President said the Government’s ultimate test should be whether farmers earn more, families have enough affordable food, young people find jobs and enterprises in agriculture, and industries gain access to locally produced raw materials.
The measure of agricultural transformation, therefore, is increasingly moving beyond how much Kenya produces.
It is about how much farmers earn from what they produce.
That shift, from production to productivity, and from productivity to prosperity, now sits at the heart of the country’s agricultural agenda.
