Kenya food import bill jumps 21pc amid widespread crop failure

The value of food and beverage imports rose by 20.6 percent to Sh169.02 billion in the January-June period. This is Sh28.88 billion higher than Sh140.14 billion in the same period last year, the latest provisional official data show.

The latest bill is Sh4.25 billion below the Sh173.28 billion recorded in the first half of 2023, when Kenya encountered one of its worst droughts in decades.

The rebound reverses two consecutive years of declines, with food imports falling 14.5 percent in 2024 to Sh148.18 billion and a further 5.4 percent to Sh140.14 billion in 2025.

The increase comes as poor rainfall and crop failure hit major agricultural regions, threatening domestic production and putting fresh pressure on food supplies.

Agriculture Principal Secretary Paul Ronoh said the government had deployed scientists to assess crop losses in the country’s main maize-growing areas and determine the impact on food security.

“If we establish that food security will be affected, the government will allow maize imports,” Dr Ronoh said recently in Nakuru.

The possible return to maize imports points to growing concern over domestic supplies as farmers contend with erratic rainfall, pests and diseases that have reduced production.

The Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation (Kalro) said weather disruptions had significantly reduced production across many maize-growing regions.

“Most regions have experienced crop failure due to depressed rainfall, while diseases and pests have worsened the situation,” Kalro director-general Patrick Ketiema said in July.

The supply shock is already reflected in higher imports of key staples, with purchases of maize, rice and wheat increasing steeply in the opening months of the year.

Kenya imported 116,913 tonnes of maize in the first quarter, 33.4 percent more than the 87,651 tonnes imported a year earlier, according to the KNBS data. Spending rose 77.3 percent to Sh3.74 billion from Sh2.11 billion.

Rice imports rose more than sixfold to 318,378 tonnes from 51,235 tonnes, while spending also increased nearly sixfold to Sh21.82 billion from Sh3.66 billion.

Unmilled wheat imports rose 22.4 percent to 646,283 tonnes from 527,964 tonnes, but spending jumped more than ninefold to Sh22.26 billion from Sh2.41 billion.

The latest developments echo the 2023 food crisis, when severe drought combined with global supply disruptions following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to push up the cost of staples and farm inputs.

The government responded by allowing duty-free imports of selected food commodities, including maize, rice and animal-feed ingredients, in a bid to increase supplies and stabilise prices.

Three years later, the prospect of another increase in food imports comes as drought conditions have again deteriorated, particularly in the country’s arid and semi-arid areas.

The State Department for Asals and Regional Development said in February that successive below-average rains had reduced water availability, pasture regeneration and crop production.

The poor October-December 2025 short rains and below-average March-May long rains have also worsened food insecurity, with the Kenya Food Security Steering Group estimating that 3.5 million people now require humanitarian food assistance. That is up from 2.2 million people in 2025, reflecting the growing strain on household food supplies and livelihoods.

The steering group is a multi-agency entity coordinating food security in Kenya under the leadership of the National Drought Management Authority (NDMA) alongside the UN World Food Programme (WFP).

The pressure comes as President William Ruto administration’s fertiliser subsidy programme reached fewer farmers in the year to June 2026, according to a draft agriculture budget report.

The number of farmers accessing subsidised fertiliser fell by 425,586, or 30.9 percent, to 949,951 from 1.38 million a year earlier.

It was the first decline in the reach of Dr Ruto’s flagship farm-input support programme since he took office.

The combination of weaker rainfall, crop losses and reduced access to subsidised inputs risks further constraining domestic food production at a time when demand is rising.

Consumers are already feeling the effects, with several commonly purchased fresh foods recording price increases well above overall food inflation of 9.0 in August.

Irish potatoes were 32.7 percent more expensive in August than a year earlier, at Sh118.05 per kilogramme, according to the KNBS, while sukuma wiki rose 29.8 percent to Sh121.21 per kilogramme and tomatoes increased 29.3 percent to Sh111.03.

A kilogramme of cabbages rose 21.7 percent to Sh74.52, oranges 18.8 percent to Sh124.69, and onions 11.1 percent to Sh120.37, while beef with bones increased 12.1 percent to Sh777.36 over the same period.

The renewed increase in food imports presents policymakers with the double challenge of securing adequate supplies while limiting the impact of higher food costs on consumers.