Kagwe: Kenya stays food-secure despite drought-hit maize belts
Key points
- CS Mutahi Kagwe, after Eldoret, Nandi and Trans Nzoia tours, said Kenya will remain food-secure despite drought in some maize belts.
- “We will not allow Kenyans to suffer from hunger because of the current weather conditions,” he said.
- Kenya Seed CEO Sammy Chepsiror said last year’s commercial maize harvest was nearly 70 million 90kg bags; this year looked stronger before drought.
- Kagwe ordered a harder crackdown on fake seed and wants MPs to treat the trade as an economic crime; farmers should buy from Kenya Seed and KALRO.
A failed maize cob in Trans Nzoia does not automatically mean an empty posho mill in Nairobi — that is the ministry line after this week’s Rift tour. Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe said the country will stay food-secure even where drought has cut maize, Eastleigh Voice reported.
He had just assessed farms in Eldoret, Nandi and Trans Nzoia and conceded weather had hurt some fields. He promised not to abandon those farmers and said interventions would protect supply and staple prices. “We will not allow Kenyans to suffer from hunger because of the current weather conditions.” He also turned on counterfeit seed: some growers only learn they bought fakes five or six months after planting, when the crop fails and the cash is gone. He told security agencies to chase dealers and asked MPs to class fake-seed sales as an economic crime. Buyers should check the seller and stick to certified stock from Kenya Seed Company and KALRO. Kenya Seed CEO Sammy Chepsiror said seed stocks are adequate despite the drought, put last year’s commercial maize harvest at nearly 70 million 90-kilogramme bags, and said this season had more potential before the dry spell. He credited the subsidy programme for getting more farmers to plant.
A 70-million-bag memory is not this season’s silo
Last year’s tally does not fill a 2026 shortfall. Related reporting already flags maize imports if the drought deepens. Households will believe the CS when unga stays put, not when a tour bus leaves Kitale.
Agriculture desk: Agriculture. Verified tour counties, Chepsiror bag count and fake-seed warning from Eastleigh Voice.
The ministry should publish county-level yield cuts from the three tour counties. KEPHIS and police should name fake-seed prosecutions, not only the next circular.
Millers should state weekly NCPB and private offtake so the “stable prices” claim can be checked at the till.
Readers should cross-check any deadline, fee, court date or programme claim against primary gazettes, agency circulars and court records before acting on this report.
Official gazettes, court rulings and agency circulars may update these facts after publication; readers should verify any deadline, fee or court date against primary sources before acting.
Based on Eastleigh Voice reporting of Kagwe’s Rift assessment. Production and import figures can change with later ministry updates.
