State eyes new investors, markets to boost agriculture sector productivity
By Victor Mukabi, August 4, 2025As Kenya continues to source for investors for its key agricultural products, accessing both regional and foreign markets continue to be an uphill task for farmers and investors.
This is largely fronted by both tariff and non-tariff barriers, poor infrastructure and insecurity within the regional markets.
In light of this, the government is banking on reduced costs associated with the production and transportation of locally produced agricultural products to make it easier for exporters to access these markets.
Agriculture Principal Secretary, Kiprono Ronoh who was speaking during a briefing on the second edition of the Africa International Agricultural Expo (AIAE), these factors continue to slow down the competitiveness of Kenyan products in the export markets.
“With the current arrangement such as removing taxes and also enhancing transport, we expect to see a turnaround in the performance of Kenyan products in the export markets,” he said.
Kenya has signed agreements with various development partners to access several markets in the region including the African markets through the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (ACFTA) which provides an opportunity to access about $3 trillion (Ksh387 trillion) African market and access to over 1.5 billion people thereby encouraging large scale production of goods and growing the sector.
Through the European Union (EU) local manufacturers are also poised to access 300 million people market which has a duty-free access that kicked in on February 2, this year.
Recently, Kenya and the United Arab Emirates signed a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) further strengthening the access of the gulf markets, which according to manufacturers displays a huge potential for the sector.
According to him, Kenya’s agriculture sector continues to play a significant role, currently contributing about 22.5 per cent to the gross domestic product (GDP) and providing approximately 75 per cent of jobs in the rural areas yet productivity remains low also due to underinvestment, limited access to modern technologies, fragmented value chains, and inadequate information systems.
Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) Chief executive, Tobias Alando, noted that Kenyan agricultural products among other commodities of trade continue to face challenges accessing these markets due to lagging implementation processes despite the foundation being set.
“Without a market, no one can really produce. If this is done and implemented, we will definitely see a trajectory. We hope that they can be actualised, and every young citizen in the country has an opportunity to access all these markets and grow the sector,” he said.
Meanwhile, the country is banking on the AIAE, scheduled to take place from October 28 to 31, 2025 to draw in new investors and tap new markets.