Kenya imported almost 786,000 tonnes of rice in 2025. Yet in June this year, the government intervened to help Mwea farmers sell stocks left in storage ahead of another harvest.
The apparent contradiction reveals a challenge that irrigation alone cannot solve: producing rice and getting it into a paying market are two different jobs.
That is the context behind the government’s latest purchasing pledge and proposed improvements to roads serving the Mwea Irrigation Scheme. Both interventions address what happens after farmers harvest—the stage that determines whether higher production becomes higher income.
More rice is being grown, but imports remain substantial
According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics’ 2026 Economic Survey, national rice paddy production increased 6.4 per cent to 303,700 tonnes in 2025. Cropped area across irrigation schemes expanded 5.3 per cent to 48,379 hectares.
Rice imports, meanwhile, fell from 899,213 tonnes in 2024 to 785,931 tonnes in 2025, a decline of approximately 12.6 per cent.
| Indicator | Latest figure |
|---|---|
| National rice paddy production, 2025 | 303,700 tonnes |
| Growth in paddy production | 6.4% |
| Rice imports, 2025 | 785,931 tonnes |
| Decline in import volume from 2024 | 12.6% |
Source: KNBS Economic Survey 2026. Paddy is rice before milling; the production and import figures should not be combined to calculate a domestic supply share without adjusting for product differences.
The figures show production growth alongside a continuing need for substantial imports. They do not establish that increased local production caused the decline in imports.
Why a national shortage can coexist with unsold local rice
A national rice deficit does not guarantee that every farmer will find a buyer at the right time and price.
Harvested paddy must be dried, milled, graded and moved to buyers. Farmers need payment to meet household expenses and finance the next crop. Buyers, in turn, need suitable products, dependable delivery and prices they can afford.
A disruption anywhere along that chain can leave rice in storage even while shops elsewhere sell imported supplies.
Mwea’s experience illustrates the importance of that chain. In June, KNTC, the Agriculture and Food Authority and farmers’ cooperatives announced a purchasing exercise targeting more than 60,000 bags.
The cooperative’s chief executive, Anthony Waweru, said marketing difficulties had delayed farmer payments. The planned response included at least two truckloads daily and an additional milling shift intended to raise output to 56 tonnes of milled rice per day.
Those were operational plans, rather than a published account of completed deliveries. Nevertheless, they show why securing a buyer also requires milling capacity, transport and payment arrangements.
What the government is trying to fix
On September 18, Deputy President Kithure Kindiki announced a KSh1 billion pledge to support KNTC’s purchase of locally produced rice, saying domestic supplies should receive priority before imports.
The intervention’s logic is straightforward: a dependable buyer can help farmers turn stored produce into income while supplying public food requirements. The announcement, however, does not by itself establish the volume purchased or money paid.
A September 24 report identified another part of the response. The National Irrigation Authority plans to seek KSh550 million in supplementary funding to improve approximately 475 kilometres of roads serving Mwea.
NIA chairman Gilbert Maluki said the work would ease movement of produce. Discussions were also planned on supplying rice purchased through KNTC to public institutions, including those under the Ministry of Education.
The Mwea cooperative’s chairman, Ndege Muriuki, reported that farmers had received payments from an earlier government purchasing exercise. That is a positive development, although the report did not provide a full breakdown of the amounts or beneficiaries.
Together, the measures address different bottlenecks: buying rice creates an outlet, while better roads can make getting it to that outlet easier.
Protecting the value of irrigation investment
Mwea is a significant rural economy. In a November 2025 update, NIA said the scheme supported 15,905 farmers and more than 100 local millers.
Thiba Dam and associated irrigation works were designed to stabilise water supply and expand cultivation. NIA’s project documentation also identifies double cropping as a benefit—allowing land to produce more than one crop in a year.
But additional harvests also require additional buyers, processing and working capital. Improving market access helps protect the value of the public investment already made in water infrastructure.
That is a stronger reason for government involvement than treating each purchasing exercise as an isolated rescue. A reliable route from farm to market can make production growth commercially sustainable.
What would show that the intervention is working?
The next assessment should follow the rice and the money.
The useful measures are tonnes purchased, purchase prices, payment dates, stocks remaining and deliveries to public institutions. For the proposed roads, they are funding secured, kilometres completed and measurable changes in transport costs.
Imports also remain part of the equation. Prioritising local purchases can support farmers, but Kenya must still meet consumer demand while domestic production expands.
Mwea’s challenge is therefore bigger than growing another harvest. It is building a dependable system that moves that harvest through mills and roads to buyers—and pays farmers in time to plant again.
Note: The import decline is TopNews’s calculation from KNBS figures.
