- Agriculture Saccos record the highest bad loan ratio in the sector
- Erratic weather continues to weigh on farmers’ loan repayments
- Agriculture Saccos serve the largest membership despite a smaller asset base
Agriculture-based Saccos posted the highest bad loan ratio at 14.01 percent in 2025, the Sacco Societies Regulatory Authority (SASRA) reports.
The finding comes from the SASRA 2025 Sacco Supervision Annual Report. The 48 agriculture-based deposit taking Saccos (DT-Saccos) recorded a non-performing loan (NPL) ratio of 14.01 percent, the highest of any field of membership.
That is an improvement on 18.69 percent in 2024 and 18.89 percent in 2023. However, it is still more than double the 6.36 percent average for all DT-Saccos.
SASRA attributes the strain to erratic weather affecting farmers. It says this has weighed on loan performance and credit risk management in the cluster.
Community-based DT-Saccos posted the next highest ratio at 12.50 percent, down from 14.15 percent in 2024. Private sector-based DT-Saccos recorded 5.68 percent.
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Government-based DT-Saccos performed best. Their ratio fell to 4.57 percent from 10.13 percent, a clear reversal of the pattern among farmers.
Including non-withdrawable deposit taking Saccos (NWDT-Saccos), 49 agriculture-based Saccos serve 3.19 million members, up from 3 million in 2024. That makes agriculture the largest field of membership at 40.46 percent of all members.
Yet the cluster holds Ksh151.36 billion in assets, or 12.50 percent of the industry total. Its share edged up from 12.12 percent in 2024, when assets stood at Ksh130.38 billion.
By contrast, government-based Saccos hold 37.12 percent of members but command 64.53 percent of assets, worth Ksh781.30 billion. Agriculture-based Saccos therefore carry about two fifths of the membership on roughly an eighth of the balance sheet.
By Benedict Aoya
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