Kagwe warns development partners against imposing generic agricultural projects on Kenya

Agriculture and Livestock Development Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe has warned development partners against imposing generic agricultural projects on Kenya, saying the country will reject initiatives not locally designed or aligned to its needs.

Speaking at the National and County Governments consultative meeting with the World Bank Group, CS Kagwe said Kenya’s agricultural priorities must be internally structured and funded based on local realities, not external templates.

“We are not the same. Our needs are different. We want to be initiators and co-designers. We will reject projects that we have not tailored,” he said.

The meeting brought together senior national and county leaders, including governors, CECs, the National Treasury and Economic Planning and the World Bank country team.

The CS also urged counties to properly structure agricultural programs and link them to national digital platforms like KADIC and KIAMIS to improve coordination, transparency and impact.

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Currently, 7.2M farmers are registered on KIAMIS, with Ksh 5.5Million receiving digital advisory services on agronomy, weather and markets.

The meeting reviewed progress of two World Bank funded programs Navcdp and FSRP worth Ksh 49.5Billion, whereby Kagwe reminded stakeholders that the funds are loans that must be repaid, calling for strict fiduciary discipline and value for money.

He also raised concern over Kenya’s Ksh 500Billion annual food import bill, terming it unsustainable, and outlined plans to scale local production through PPP lease models, land commercialization, and livestock vaccination and traceability programs.

The consultative forum marked a shift from traditional donor-recipient dynamics toward co-creation, with governors encouraged to become architects of their own agricultural transformation strategies.

By Juma Ndigo

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