Dr Reuben Kigame Unveils Ambitious Agriculture Plan to Transform Kwmua Into a Regional Food Hub

 

Presidential aspirant Dr. Reuben Kigame has placed agriculture at the heart of his campaign, unveiling a bold and transformative plan aimed at making Kenya a self-sufficient, food-secure nation and a leading agricultural exporter in the region.

While addressing residents in Uasin Gishu County, Dr. Kigame declared that agriculture is “very close to my heart” and will be prioritized as the backbone of Kenya’s economy under his administration. He emphasized that his government will operationalize a national demarginalization policy to bring more acreage into productive use across the country, ensuring access to markets and drastically reducing post-harvest losses.

“Our goal is to achieve not only food self-sufficiency in staple crops such as maize, rice, wheat, and beans, but also to produce surplus for regional and international markets,” said Dr. Kigame. “This will create jobs, reduce food imports, stabilize prices, and position Kenya as a food-export hub in Africa.”

To achieve this, Dr. Kigame outlined a series of strategic interventions.

He pledged to expand irrigation infrastructure by investing in large and medium-sized dams across the country, thereby reducing the nation’s reliance on unpredictable rain-fed agriculture and building resilience against climate change.

Mechanization, particularly for smallholder farmers, is another major plank of his plan. Dr. Kigame plans to introduce subsidized and shared farm machinery services to make modern equipment affordable and accessible. He also aims to encourage the use of modern technologies such as precision agriculture, conservation tillage, and improved seed varieties—an approach that will also help attract young people to agriculture.

Access to affordable credit is a key priority. Dr. Kigame committed to strengthening the Agricultural Finance Corporation and partnering with SACCOs, cooperatives, and microfinance institutions to provide low-interest, tailored financing solutions for small-scale farmers.

His administration would also invest heavily in value addition and agro-processing. The plan includes establishing primary processing industries such as milling, drying, and packaging facilities near production zones, alongside promoting agro-industrial parks and cold storage facilities to reduce post-harvest losses and enhance market competitiveness.

In a bold move to address unproductive land ownership, Dr. Kigame proposed the taxation of large tracts of idle land to compel productivity or redistribution. He will also promote land leasing arrangements to enable active farmers to access fertile but underutilized land.

To protect Kenyan farmers from unfair competition, Dr. Kigame said he would review trade policies to prevent the dumping of subsidized imports that harm local production. He also intends to negotiate fair trade agreements that open up export markets for Kenyan produce while safeguarding domestic agricultural interests.

He emphasized zero tolerance for corruption in agricultural projects. His administration will institute strict monitoring and accountability frameworks, ensuring transparency in procurement and auditing processes, and guaranteeing that benefits reach farmers directly, rather than being siphoned off by middlemen or civil servants.

Additionally, Dr. Kigame promised to instill a love for agriculture from a young age. He said his government would integrate agriculture and agribusiness education into the school curriculum starting at the primary level and work to remove the stigma associated with farming.

“Our youth must come to see agriculture not as a last resort but as a sector full of promise, profit, and purpose,” he noted.

Dr. Kigame concluded by affirming that food security is national security, and his administration will ensure agriculture works for every Kenyan — from the smallholder in Siaya to the large-scale farmer in Trans Nzoia.