Government Officials Demand Shift from Agricultural Policy to Action at High-Level Kenya Retreat

Senior government officials from across Africa gathered this week to deliver a pointed message: the continent has enough agricultural policy. What it needs now is execution.

The call came at a two-day Leadership Retreat for Permanent Secretaries from African ministries of agriculture, convened in Limuru, Kenya, and hosted by the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) in partnership with the Kenyan government. The meeting brought together senior policymakers and technical partners from 15 countries under the theme “Delivering CAADP 2026–2035: From Commitment to Government-Led Execution and Delivery.”

“The problem is not policy or strategy. The problem is policy and strategy implementation,” said Alice Ruhweza, President of AGRA, in her opening address. She argued that well-designed agricultural strategies across the continent are routinely stalled by inadequate financing, poor institutional coordination, and a lack of alignment between ambition and resources.

Marking AGRA’s 20th anniversary, Ruhweza framed the organization’s evolving role as one of enabling execution at scale, not leading policy reform. She challenged the assembled Permanent Secretaries to think in concrete terms: “What can you, as Permanent Secretaries, do within the next three farming seasons to materially improve farmer prosperity?”

The retreat comes as African nations work to operationalize the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) 2026–2035, a framework that prioritizes food security, climate resilience, and inclusive agrifood system transformation.

Participants included officials from AGRA’s core focus countries, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Zambia, Tanzania, Mozambique, Malawi, Mali, Burkina Faso, Senegal, and Sierra Leone,  as well as Somalia, whose attendance underscored the breadth of shared challenges and growing continental momentum.

Speakers repeatedly stressed that chronic underinvestment in agrifood systems represents not merely a development failure, but a significant missed economic opportunity, one that constrains job creation, trade, and climate resilience across the region.

Kenya’s Principal Secretary in the State Department for Agriculture, Dr. Kipronoh Ronoh, used his opening address to highlight his country’s Agriculture Sector Transformation and Growth Strategy (ASTGS) as a model for government-led reform. He outlined priorities including irrigation expansion, access to quality inputs, value addition, and climate-resilient farming.

Dr. Ronoh pointed to Kenya’s Kenya Integrated Agriculture Management Information System (KIAMIS) as a marker of progress, reporting that more than 7.2 million farmers have been registered on the digital platform to date.

He also emphasized Kenya’s alignment with continental “Big Bets,” including investment in climate-resilient crops, soil restoration, and digital tools for farmers. “We are deliberately aligning Kenya’s agricultural transformation with the continent’s ‘Big Bets,'” he said.

In closing remarks, Ephantus Kimotho, Principal Secretary in the State Department of Irrigation, pointed to irrigation as a critical lever for turning policy into production. He outlined Kenya’s National Irrigation Sector Investment Plan, which targets bringing 3.5 million acres under irrigation, an effort he said requires approximately KSh 600 billion in investment and would significantly reduce the country’s annual food import bill, currently estimated at USD 4 billion.

“A corporate agribusiness approach is essential,” Kimotho said, calling for government to invest in enabling infrastructure while the private sector drives mechanization and innovation through blended finance models.

Across the two days, a consistent message took shape: Africa’s agricultural transformation depends less on new blueprints than on functioning systems and genuine public-private trust.

Delegates pointed to mechanisms such as Agricultural Transformation Offices, improved data systems, and stronger value chain integration as practical tools for accelerating delivery. They also underscored the need for more effective financing models and continued cross-country learning.

“When farmers prosper, Africa prospers,” Ruhweza said, a remark that captured the retreat’s overarching thesis: that the continent’s broader economic future is inseparable from the health of its food systems.

Participants are expected to leave Limuru with specific commitments tied to national priorities, signaling a shift, at least in intent, from deliberation to action.

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