Kenya’s Tea Sector Thrives as Earnings Jump from Ksh.138B to Ksh.215B, Says President Ruto
Consequently, the price of a 2kg packet of maize flour has dropped from Ksh.250 in 2022 to as low as Ksh.130 today, offering meaningful relief to millions of households.
President William Ruto makes his State of Nation address at Parliament buildings. Photo/Courtesy
By Ruth Sang
President William Ruto declared impressive growth in Kenya’s tea sector, noting that revenues have jumped from Ksh.138 billion in 2022 to Ksh.215 billion in 2024, a 56 percent increase within his tenure so far. The announcement was made during his State of the Nation Address at Parliament on Thursday.
According to President Ruto, this growth has resulted from strategic government interventions put in place to stabilize agricultural production and boost household incomes. He recalled that in 2022, many Kenyans expressed their frustrations over soaring commodity prices, famously marching with empty sufurias to protest the high cost of basic goods. These demonstrations, he said, underlined the urgent need to accord agriculture priority as a cornerstone of economic transformation.
“Strengthening agriculture is not only about improving one sector; it is about securing households, stabilizing prices, creating jobs, expanding industry, and boosting exports. Therefore, agriculture had to be the fulcrum of our national transformation agenda,” Ruto explained.
At the center of this has been the introduction of an integrated digital platform for farmer registration, the Kenya Integrated Agricultural Management Information System. Whereas by 2022, less than 300,000 farmers were registered, this number has risen to over 7.1 million farmers on the platform by 2025. This digital platform gives the government real-time visibility for targeted, evidence-based interventions that would help eliminate exploitation by middlemen, cartels, and unscrupulous brokers.
He added that the government’s fertilizer subsidy program had distributed more than 21 million bags of subsidized fertilizer, lowering its price by almost two-thirds and saving farmers an estimated Ksh.105 billion. This is also seen to contribute to a sharp increase in national maize production, currently rising from 44 million bags in 2022 to 67 million bags in 2024, with projections of 70 million bags for this year. Consequently, the price of a 2kg packet of maize flour has dropped from Ksh.250 in 2022 to as low as Ksh.130 today, offering meaningful relief to millions of households.
While the revival of tea has been exemplary, other value chains of agriculture have equally transformed, the President observed. These include significant gains in coffee, edible oils, cotton, sugar, livestock, and dairy milk, which are crucial in stabilizing the economy, making households more food secure, and providing jobs to millions of Kenyans. The Head of State said that positioning agriculture as the prime mover of Kenya’s economic development is fundamental to attaining sustainable growth, empowering household incomes, and creating a resilient economy that can meet both domestic and export demand.
About Author
