Overview
Agriculture Sector is key to Kenya’s economy, contributing 33% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) with an indirect contribution of 27% of GDP with other sectors. In Kakamega, agriculture is the main economic activity in the county, it employs over 80% of the people and accounts for over 52% of the Gross County Product. The county in partnership with MoALD and support from JICA through the agricultural investment promotion project has prioritized 3 crops AVOCADO, SUNFLOWER AND UPLAND RICE. Adoption, cultivation and investment in the value chains will highly benefit the people of Kakamega.
The County’s initiatives are geared towards improving disposable income per household, enhance economic empowerment, increase productivity for nutrition and food security and job creation. The County has significantly invested in infrastructure, provision of subsidized farm inputs, markets, responsive institutions, and innovation & extension while creating an enabling environment for private sector investment.
The investment opportunities exist in Horticulture (Avocado, Sunflower), Industrial Crops (Upland rice, Sugarcane), Apiculture, Aquaculture, Dairy & Meat Processing, Mechanization, Cold Chain Logistics and Agro-tourism.
The main produce in Kakamega is maize, sugarcane, tea, sorghum, rice, beans, cassava, groundnuts and sweet potatoes. The county is currently promoting horticultural and industrial crops that include avocado, sunflower, upland rice, maize, tea among others
| CROPS | Year: 2020 | |
| Area Under Cultivation (Ha) | Production (Tonnes) | |
| Maize | 79,490 | 221,910.75 |
| Avocado | 38,781 | 1,939,050 |
| Banana | 2500 | 100,000,000 |
| Upland Rice | 49 | 2.7 |
| Sunflower | 27 | 4.374 |
| Sugarcane | 40,500 | 3,000,000 |
| Tea | 626.5 | 4322.85 |
Investment Opportunities
- Commercial farming
- Farming equipment and machinery
- Processing plants (Avocado, Sunflower, Rice, Maize, Banana)
- Factories (Sugar, Tea)
Kakamega County’s vision is to become a model for livestock development and value addition in the region to enhance Kenya’s livestock sector contribution to GDP which is at 10% as at 2022.
Livestock & Products | Production (2020) |
Dairy (Milk) | 182,361,447 (litres/kgs) |
Beef | 6,541.545 kgs |
Chicken | 3,106,373 trays |
Investment Opportunities
- Milk Procssing Plant i.e Malava dairy plant
- Cold Chains
- Dairy Farming
- Animal Feed Factory
- Chicken Processing Factory
- Leather Industry
Kenya's fishing industry contributes about 0.5% of the national GDP and about 2% of the national export earnings. Kakamega has 6,976 fish farmers who operate 9,988 fish ponds, with an average of 300sq meters, the total pond area is 2,536,300sq meters with potential to produce 1,798 metric tonnes of fish in seven- month production cycle, translating to sh.539 million earnings by farmers.
Investment Opportunities
- Fish Processing Plant i.e. Lutonyi Fish Factory
- Fish Farming
Kenya produces about 25,000 metric tons of honey annually to which Kakamega County contributes approximately 1% of the national production. Kakamega County has 13,847 Kenya Top Bar Hives (KTBH), 25,398 Langstroth and 5,135 log hives with an estimated production of over 300,000 kg (300MT) honey and 11,900kg beeswax in a year. The county has an estimated 2,300 beekeepers with more than 20 hives in an apiary and a total of 40 beekeeping groups with an intent to expand and attract investment in this area.
Investment Opportunities
- Processing, harvesting and packaging of Kakamega apiary products
- Honey processing plant