Kenya eyes Portugal funds, investors for one-million-acre irrigation plan

Ephantus Kimotho (left) with Portuguese Ambassador Paulo Neves Pocinho during talks at the Embassy of Portugal in Nairobi.

Kenya is courting Portugal for financing and private investment to bring one million additional acres under irrigation, targeting non-traditional partners to fund its agricultural transformation.

Irrigation Principal Secretary Ephantus Kimotho held talks with Portuguese Ambassador Paulo Neves Pocinho at the Embassy of Portugal in Nairobi on Friday, seeking technical support, investment partnerships and knowledge exchange to advance the National Irrigation Sector Investment Plan (NISIP).

Central to the discussions was Kenya's interest in tapping Portugal's Small Projects Fund to finance community-based irrigation schemes, a mechanism that could channel direct support to smallholder farmers in areas where large-scale investment has historically bypassed rural households.

The two sides also explored avenues for Portuguese private investors to enter Kenya's irrigation sector through Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs), targeting commercial food production and large-scale agribusiness projects.

Kenya wants the partnership to support the construction of dams, water abstraction systems, canal lining and improvements to water conveyance infrastructure, with the aim of cutting water losses and improving efficiency across irrigation schemes.

A particular focus was Kenya's Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs), which make up a large portion of the country's total land area and remain heavily dependent on rain-fed agriculture.

Expanding irrigation in these regions, the State Department for Irrigation said, would promote year-round farming and reduce vulnerability to drought.

The engagement comes as Kenya accelerates a broader irrigation expansion drive. The State Department has separately signed partnerships with the World Bank, the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) and the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) to advance NISIP targets.

Kimotho was accompanied by the Head of Partnerships and Resource Mobilisation, Florence Ndai.