Nakuru Targets 30,000 Acres of Sunflower as County Moves to Cut Kenya’s Edible Oil Imports

The County Government of Nakuru has stepped up efforts to expand sunflower production as part of a wider strategy to increase local edible oil supply and reduce Kenya’s reliance on imports.

The county, working with the Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA) through the Nuts and Oil Crops Directorate, has distributed 7,000 kilograms of certified sunflower seed to 2,500 farmers across the county.

The programme seeks to increase land under sunflower from about 2,300 acres currently to more than 30,000 acres within three years. The target covers all 11 sub-counties and forms part of Nakuru’s push to develop sunflower as a commercial and climate-resilient crop.

Nakuru County Agriculture Chief Officer Margaret Kinyanjui said sunflower can help farmers cope with increasingly unpredictable rainfall while creating additional income opportunities.

“We are championing sunflower farming as a key commercial and rotational crop,” Kinyanjui said, adding that the county wants farmers to benefit economically from the crop beyond production.

Since Nakuru launched its sunflower promotion programme in 2024, the county has received a cumulative 59,000 kilograms of certified seed. County officials say farmers have since cultivated more than 9,000 hectares, producing an estimated 9,500 metric tonnes of sunflower valued at over Sh475 million.

The county is supporting farmers through certified seed distribution, subsidised fertiliser, land preparation, extension services and market linkages. Farmers have also been organised into three clusters to make training, aggregation and other support services more efficient.

The programme is also placing greater emphasis on processing and value addition. The county is advancing a Common User Facility at the Agriculture Training Centre in Soilo to support aggregation and create opportunities for small-scale processing.

Officials hope farmers will eventually process sunflower locally into cooking oil rather than selling raw seed. The county is also exploring support for machinery that would allow farmer groups to produce and market edible oil within local markets.

Sunflower has attracted attention in Kenya because of the country’s persistent edible oil deficit. AFA data indicates that domestic production meets only a fraction of national edible oil and fat requirements, leaving the country dependent on imports.

The deficit has also created demand for oilseeds from neighbouring countries. Kenyan processors have increasingly sourced sunflower from Tanzania and Uganda to maintain supplies for local processing.

Sunflower production could therefore provide farmers with both a food-processing market and an additional enterprise for crop rotation. The crop can also generate livestock feed through by-products such as sunflower cake, which is used by animal feed manufacturers.

Nakuru is promoting both hybrid and open-pollinated sunflower varieties. Hybrid varieties grown in the county include Sunbeam, Mammoth, Autumn Beauty, Teddy Bear and Kenya Fedha, with some maturing within three to four months.

The AFA has been conducting farmer capacity-building forums in collaboration with county governments in several parts of Kenya. The initiative includes distribution of sunflower seed and training on production practices as the government seeks to increase domestic oilseed production.

Nationally, more than 50,000 farmers are expected to benefit from the programme, with about 60,000 acres targeted for sunflower production.

For Nakuru, the immediate challenge will be sustaining farmer participation while ensuring reliable markets, quality seed, aggregation and processing capacity. County officials say strengthening these links will be critical if sunflower is to develop from a subsidised crop into a commercially viable value chain that can raise farmer incomes and contribute to reducing Kenya’s edible oil import bill.