Government to Increase Agriculture Budget to Attain Food Security
Agriculture CS Mutahi Kagwe with Kilifi County Deputy Governor Flora Mbetsa at the launch of Ndigiria water dam. (Photo/ Courtesy)
By Robby Ngoba
Email, thecoastnewspaper@gmail.com
Agriculture and livestock development cabinet secretary Mutahi Kagwe says the government will have to increase budgetary allocation for the docket if the country was keen on empowering farmers and making it food secure.
According to the 2026 budget policy statement (BPS) the ministry received very little funding to enable it effectively implement its programs in the 2026/2027 financial year.
The CS said that when meeting the Senate’s agriculture, livestock and fisheries committee that is chaired by Bungoma Senator David Wakoli.
He explained that agriculture agencies that dealt with research, pest control and regulations were seriously underfunded.
According to him it was alarming that agriculture, which contributes about 26 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Kenya, was getting only two percent funding from the national budget.
“Agriculture is supposed to be funded to a tune of about ten percent of the country’s budget but we receive only two percent of that and this means that agriculture is seriously underfunded and the general space of agriculture is underfunded.”
In the budget estimates, the department has been provided a ceiling of Ksh75.491 billion against a total resource requirement of Ksh135.864 billion hence leaving a funding gap of Ksh59.864 billion.
“If we want agriculture to expand, if we want to get into value addition, if we want higher productivity per acre then we must continue to allocate higher funds for agriculture.”
Acknowledging the funding deficit in the agriculture sector, Senator Wakoli promised that his committee would table the recommendation in the Senate to push for the increase of allocations, especially to critical agencies such as the Agriculture Food Production (AFA) and other agricultural research agencies.
“What they’ve prayed for is that their budget be increased and as a committee we shall table those recommendation in the senate because agriculture is the backbone of our economy and it doesn’t imply that the budget has deliberately been set lower than expected but it is because agencies are improved step by step,” he said.
The chair was accompanied by committee members Senator Tom Ojienda (Kisumu) and his Embu counterpart Alexander Mundigi.
