Coordinated investment in irrigation is key to Kenya's future

Tomatoes on Drip Farming. [WILBERFORCE OKWIRI, STANDARD]

In a country where agriculture powers almost one third of the GDP, Kenya’s irrigation potential remains underutilised. Less than three per cent of the nation’s arable land is irrigated — far below the seven per cent Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) average.

With increasingly frequent droughts and erratic rainfall, reliance on rain-fed agriculture is no longer tenable.