Fellow Kenyans, Happy 63rd Mashujaa Day. God bless our Country 🙏🏾

PROTECT THE FARMER, GROW THE MARKET: CS KAGWE CHAMPIONS REFORMS TO SECURE THE FUTURE OF GLOBAL COFFEE CS Sen. Mutahi Kagwe has called for a fundamental transformation of the global coffee industry, emphasising that its long term sustainability depends on protecting farmers, strengthening regulatory frameworks and ensuring coffee production remains economically viable. Speaking at Italy’s International Coffee Strategy Forum, CS Kagwe highlighted the need for stronger partnerships between producing and consuming countries to address declining production, improve farmer earnings and expand global coffee markets. Citing Kenya’s experience, CS Kagwe noted that the country’s coffee production has declined from approximately 150,000 metric tonnes to 50,000 metric tonnes, underscoring the need for policies that make coffee farming competitive against alternative agricultural enterprises. He pointed to Kenya’s Coffee Act as a key step towards strengthening the regulation of domestic and export markets while advancing coffee research to improve productivity and sector performance. CS Kagwe stressed that the entire global coffee value chain depends on the farmer, warning that without sustainable returns at the production level, the industry risks undermining its own future. He challenged international coffee companies to invest in the welfare of producers, noting that their long term commercial interests are directly linked to the prosperity of the farmers who supply their raw materials. He also called for deliberate investment in growing the Kenya Coffee brand internationally, drawing parallels with efforts to promote Kenyan tea and urging governments, industry players and processors to work together to increase global coffee consumption. On international trade regulations, including the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), CS Kagwe called for policies that reflect the realities of agricultural production, highlighting the importance of recognising coffee as a tree crop and ensuring that compliance requirements account for conditions on the ground. The CS further underscored the potential of digital transformation to modernise coffee trading by connecting smallholder farmers more directly with international buyers, improving market access and creating greater transparency across the value chain. Kenya’s collaboration with Italy and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) to establish the Coffee Research and Training Institute in Nairobi also reflects the importance of international partnerships in strengthening research, skills development and the sector’s long-term competitiveness.

KENYA, FAO TO DEEPEN COLLABORATION ON SOIL HEALTH TO BOOST AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY CS Sen. Mutahi Kagwe met FAO Deputy Director-General Beth Bechdol at FAO Headquarters in Rome, Italy, to advance collaboration on soil health as a cornerstone of sustainable agriculture, increased productivity and long-term food security. FAO reaffirmed its commitment to supporting Kenya’s soil health initiatives, with discussions highlighting the use of technology and soil intelligence to guide precision farming, strengthen the Kenya Integrated Agricultural Management Information System (KIAMIS), now integrated with KADIC, and establish a team of soil health champions to drive awareness and action. Both sides also underscored the need to train more soil scientists to strengthen national capacity in sustainable soil management. The engagement reinforces Kenya’s push for data-driven agriculture that empowers farmers to make informed decisions, restores soil health, protects the environment and builds resilient food systems for generations to come.

The Agriculture and Food Systems Transformation Summit 2026 set the stage for a future where technology, mechanisation, innovation and climate smart practices redefine farming. As Kenya looks ahead, the focus is on empowering smallholder farmers, unlocking opportunities for young people, expanding market access and building a resilient, competitive and food-secure nation. The future of Kenyan agriculture is not just about growing more food; it is about transforming how we farm, how farmers earn and how the nation feeds itself. #AgricultureSummit2026 #FarmerOf2063

FINANCIAL INJUSTICE TO FARMERS CS Sen. Mutahi Kagwe has taken the global stage in Rome at the 2026 World Food Forum to call out a glaring paradox: while agriculture drives 25% of Kenya's GDP and up to 50% through backward and forward linkages, a mere 3% of commercial bank loan books reach the sector. Addressing this historical handicap, Kenya is flipping the script by launching the KES 1.25 trillion National AgriFood Systems Investment Plan (NASIP) to mobilize public, private, and blended capital across crops, livestock, fisheries, and agribusiness value chains. To ensure this capital actually reaches the ground, the government is scaling up the proven, farmer-owned SACCO model alongside cutting edge innovations like AI driven credit scoring, precision farming, and farm to fork traceability. As CS Kagwe powerfully noted, the farmer is an integral part of this new paradigm shift because it all starts and ends with them, with the government acting as an enabler and private sector partners powering markets built on local value addition and fair, transparent pricing. #WorldFoodForum #AgriBusiness #FoodSecurity #Kenya

TRANSFORMING ASALS INTO ECONOMIC POWERHOUSES: KENYA UNVEILS A BOLD, WATER-SECURE AGRICULTURAL BLUEPRINT ON THE GLOBAL STAGE IN ROME CS Sen. Mutahi Kagwe, is currently in Rome, Italy, participating in the prestigious Rome Water Dialogue. Speaking specifically during the technical session focused on the Restoration of Degraded Agricultural Lands: Innovation from Policy to Practice for Water and Food, CS Kagwe delivered a compelling address highlighting how Kenya is actively shifting its developmental trajectory. Rather than viewing the reality that up to 70% of Kenya's landmass is classified as Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs) as a drawback, the nation is championing this vast terrain as a socially responsible and environmentally sustainable economic opportunity. To turn this vision into reality, the government is leveraging funding from the newly launched National Infrastructure Fund to construct an impressive water network consisting of 50 mega dams, 200 medium-sized dams, and 1,000 small water reservoirs and pans. This aggressive infrastructural push is designed to pivot the country away from its historical, climate vulnerable over reliance on rain-fed agriculture toward reliable, high-yield irrigation. At the heart of this strategy is a robust public-private partnership model where the government builds the essential dams and backbone irrigation infrastructure, alongside spearheading the branding and marketing of Kenyan produce. Meanwhile, the private sector, local communities, farmer producer organizations (FPOs), and SACCOs take the helm in production, local value addition, and exports, ensuring that jobs, wealth, and money remain firmly within the country. Furthermore, the Land Commercialization Initiative is providing the formal framework for the private sector to lease idle government and community trust land on a long-term basis to fuel large-scale production of food, feed, and fodder. This sweeping modernization goes hand in hand with technological advancements, including nationwide digital-first soil testing laboratories and last-mile "soil doctors". Through this initiative, every farmer is equipped with a digital soil passport to seamlessly access subsidized farm inputs and AI-driven advisory services, ensuring smart farmers produce more and earn more. Combined with collaborative execution from the Kenya Agricultural and Digital Information Center (KADIC), KALRO, county governments, women, and the youth, this comprehensive compact aims to quadruple agricultural production per unit, comfortably feed a burgeoning population, slash Kenya's USD 3.4B annual food import bill, and redirect national income toward more investable opportunities. Capped off by Kenya's ongoing 10-year, 15 billion trees reforestation initiative targeting 2032, the country is proving that true agricultural transformation delivers a resounding win for farmers, investors, the economy, and the environment alike. #RomeWaterDialogue #FoodSecurity #KenyaAgriculture #ClimateResilience #InvestInKenya #ASALTransformation #SustainableFarming

Agriculture and Food Systems Transformation Summit 2026 youtube.com/live/0ZEQff_0mdE…