Kenya's agricultural exports set to penetrate US retail market

Agriculture and Livestock Development Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe join other leaders as they inspect a maize variety at the Kenya Seed stand during the Nakuru ASK Show on July 4, 2025. [Kipsang Joseph, Standard]

Kenyan agricultural exports are poised to enter the United States market following a productive bilateral meeting between the U.S. Africa Trade Desk (USATD) team and the government of Kenya.

The high-level delegation, led by Gavin van der Burgh (CEO), Bill Fanjoy (VP, Trade Programs), Jeanah Lacey (Director, Special Projects), Frances Fraser (Director, Continental Services), and Shane Townsend, held extensive engagements with government agencies and top private-sector players across floriculture, coffee, macadamia, apparel, grains, and animal feed.

Speaking during the engagements, Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe emphasised the need for strong mutual trade, a private-sector-led model, and enhanced collaboration to meet U.S. market standards:

"We are going as private-sector as possible, supporting our producers to meet global demands through better pest control, post-harvest handling, and value addition. Kenya is ready, and we want this partnership to transform livelihoods for our farmers," Kagwe said.

Kagwe further stated that the Ministry will continue to strengthen traceability, compliance, and market-readiness systems to expand Kenyan exports under President William Ruto's BETA agricultural transformation agenda.

The USATD team announced immediate priority sectors for U.S. retail markets, including major chains such as Walmart: fresh-cut flowers, coffee, macadamia nuts, and tea (second phase).

This follows Kenya's earlier trip to the U.S. in September, when CS Kagwe secured a U.S. commitment to expand the import window for Kenyan agricultural goods.

One of the key successes came from Nouvelle Blooms Ltd, the export company headquartered at JKIA. The firm has secured agreements to export over 4 million stems of premium Kenyan roses per month to the U.S. market and will also supply specialty Kenyan coffee directly to American buyers.

Nouvelle Blooms also coordinated the floriculture and coffee field visits in Naivasha and Nairobi, where U.S. officials toured major farms, flower consolidators, the Coffee Directorate, Nairobi Coffee Exchange, coffee quality control labs, cargo warehousing at JKIA, and the Horticultural Crops Directorate.

In the macadamia value chain, exporters, including the Macnut Consortium and other processors, presented a strong capacity to meet U.S. demand. The delegation confirmed that macadamia will form part of the first wave of Kenyan produce flowing into American retail outlets.

Beyond accessing the U.S. market, Kenya will now benefit from strategic imports to boost local manufacturing and food security. These include cotton for apparel and textiles, and raw materials for livestock feed production.

These inputs will support Kenya's textile mills, apparel factories, and the fast-growing animal feeds industry, helping reduce production costs and stabilise supply across the dairy, poultry, and livestock sectors.

With clear pathways for compliance, export logistics, and buyer-seller linkages, both sides hailed the mission as a critical turning point in unlocking Kenya's agricultural export potential.

As Kenya positions itself as a global agri-export powerhouse, the move aligns with CS Kagwe's push to have Kenyan products penetrate deeply into premium U.S. shelves, ensuring farmers benefit from higher prices and stable markets.