By:Faith Mukundi
Deputy President Kithure Kindiki has said Kenya is increasingly turning to technology to transform agriculture, with smart agriculture and precision farming expected to play a bigger role in improving productivity and food security.
Kindiki said the government was applying technology to modernise farming and equip farmers with tools and approaches that can improve agricultural production into the future.
He made the remarks on Wednesday, October 7, 2026, while presiding over the official opening of the Agriculture and Food Security Transformation Summit at Jamhuri Park ASK Showground in Nairobi.
Kindiki said the adoption of technology was part of broader efforts to place agriculture at the centre of Kenya’s economic transformation.
He said research and innovation had also been stepped up, resulting in the development of new crop varieties, improved animal breeds and better farming technologies.
The Deputy President said the government was also strengthening support systems for farmers as it seeks to improve production across different agricultural value chains.
He cited the expansion of the national farmer register from about 300,000 farmers to 7.2 million crop farmers and three million livestock keepers as one of the measures undertaken to strengthen the agriculture sector.
Kindiki also highlighted government interventions to reduce production costs, saying the price of a bag of fertiliser had fallen from KSh7,000 to KSh2,000 through subsidies.
The price of certified maize seed had dropped by 50 per cent from KSh300 to KSh150 per kilogramme, while the cost of sexed semen for artificial insemination of dairy cows had fallen from KSh8,000 to KSh1,400 per dose.
He said the government had also expanded livestock health programmes, with 8.9 million cattle vaccinated under an ongoing programme targeting 22 million cattle and 50 million small stock.
According to Kindiki, the interventions have contributed to increased production and incomes in several agricultural value chains.
Milk production has risen from 4.6 billion litres to 5.2 billion litres, while the value of dairy products has increased from KSh4.9 billion to KSh8.9 billion.
Kindiki further said Kenya was now the leading exporter of processed milk in Africa, while the value of meat exports had increased from KSh8.9 billion to KSh12.9 billion.
He said technology would remain central to the next phase of agricultural development as Kenya seeks to improve efficiency, productivity and resilience in farming.
The Deputy President also highlighted investments in agro-processing, saying 17 County Aggregation and Industrial Parks had been completed and were being equipped to support value addition.
He said extension services had been revamped and farmers were being supported across key value chains, including coffee, tea, milk, macadamia, pulses and avocado.
Kindiki said the government’s agricultural transformation agenda ultimately remained focused on the farmer and strengthening Kenya’s capacity to produce enough food.