Kenya and Zambia Deepen Agricultural Cooperation

In Summary

• Kenya and Zambia plan a formal agreement to enhance agricultural innovation and trade.
• High-level talks focus on institutional linkages between KALRO, KEPHIS, and Zambia’s SCCI.
• Initiatives target food system resilience, productivity, and regional self-reliance.
• Kenya to explore Zambia’s livestock and fisheries expertise; Zambia eyes Kenya’s seed tech.
• Challenges include funding, policy alignment, and climate risks.
• Agreement to bolster Kenya’s KSh 215 billion tea exports and Zambia’s maize surplus.

Kenya and Zambia are set to consolidate their agricultural cooperation through a formal agreement aimed at enhancing innovation, trade, and regional self-reliance, following high-level talks between Kenya’s Agriculture and Livestock Development Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe and Zambia’s Agriculture Minister Reuben Mutolo on August 7, 2025, in Nairobi.

The initiative, announced by Kenya’s Ministry of Agriculture, seeks to strengthen food systems and boost productivity through shared expertise and institutional linkages.

The ministers discussed establishing ties between Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation (KALRO) and Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS) with Zambia’s Seed Control and Certification Institute (SCCI).

This collaboration aims to advance seed technology, certification, and quality control, leveraging Kenya’s expertise in certified seeds—evident in projects like Nakuru’s Rooted Apical Cutting (RAC) potato farming—and Zambia’s robust maize production, which yielded a 1.1 million metric ton surplus in 2022/2023.

CS Kagwe welcomed the partnership, noting its alignment with Kenya’s efforts to build resilient food systems, such as the KSh 3.7 billion tea factory upgrades in Nandi and the NCC milk plant in Kabiyet.

“This cooperation complements our cross-border vision for sustainable agriculture,” he said. Minister Mutolo pledged to link Kenya with Zambia’s Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries, expanding the partnership to include aquaculture and livestock, areas where Uasin Gishu’s Chepsaita project and Zambia’s Zambeef expansion offer models.

The agreement aims to address Kenya’s KSh 160 billion edible oil import bill through Zambia’s expertise in soybean and sunflower, while Kenya’s tea (KSh 215 billion in 2024 exports) and dairy innovations could tap Zambia’s 250 million-strong regional market.

Both nations face challenges like climate-induced droughts, funding gaps, and policy harmonization, but the partnership builds on prior trade discussions by the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KNCCI) in 2024, which identified agriculture as a key sector for bilateral growth. Zambia’s farmers, meanwhile, seek Kenya’s seed certification systems to boost their export competitiveness.

The agreement’s framework is expected to be finalized by mid-2026, with pilot projects in seed exchange and livestock trade planned for early 2026, reinforcing both nations’ food security and economic transformation goals.