This archive report was first published on 5 October 2019.
Kenya's agricultural sector is in a state of crisis, with the country's reliance on imports threatening the economy's growth prospects.
At the official opening of the Nairobi trade fair on October 2, 2018, President Uhuru Kenyatta highlighted the worrying trend of an aging farming population, with the average age of a Kenyan farmer standing at 59, while the average age of the consumer is a mere 17.
However, the question remains: what has the government done to reverse this trend and revitalize the agricultural sector?
Unlike in the 1980s and 1990s, when agriculture was a financially rewarding venture, the sector is now struggling to attract young people, with stories of billions of shillings from coffee, tea, and other crops failing to materialize.
Parents who once comfortably educated their children from agriculture now find themselves struggling to make ends meet, with the sector's decline having a ripple effect on the entire economy.
According to the 2018 Economic Survey, Kenya's value of trade with East Africa member states fell to $1.14 billion in 2017 from $1.26 billion in 2015.
Furthermore, data from the State department of fisheries indicates that Kenya imported 22,000 tonnes of fish mainly from China, worth KSh 1.7 billion in 2018, a trend that is edging out Kenyan traders.
It is a mystery why successive regimes in Kenya have ignored agriculture, a sector with a huge potential to create jobs and revive the economy.
