NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 5 – The Government has called on private investors and financiers to provide 61 percent of the funding required to implement Kenya’s National Irrigation Sector Investment Plan (NISIP) 2025-2035, as it seeks to expand irrigation and strengthen food security.
Water, Sanitation and Irrigation Cabinet Secretary Eric Muriithi said the 10-year plan requires USD4.6 billion (Sh598 billion) to expand irrigation to more than 1.5 million acres of land and improve the country’s resilience to climate change.
Speaking during the Eastern and Southern Africa Private Sector Forum on Irrigation in Nairobi on Monday, Muriithi said the Government cannot finance the programme alone and called for greater private-sector participation.
“Public financing alone cannot get us there, and it was not designed to. The NISIP is an instrument for rallying the whole sector, government, donors, commercial banks, equipment suppliers, agribusinesses, around one architecture, one accountability framework, and one set of outcomes,” Muriithi said.
He said Kenya was open to private investment in irrigation as it seeks to implement the NISIP and increase agricultural production.
The two-day forum, which ends Tuesday, has brought together representatives from 39 governments and private-sector players to identify barriers, risks and market failures limiting private investment in irrigation.
The Government is working with the World Bank and International Finance Corporation (IFC) to implement the NISIP through the Kenya Resilient Irrigation for a Sustainable Economy (K-RISE) programme, whose development is nearing completion.
World Bank Division Director for Eastern and Southern Africa Qimiao Fan said the programme would provide financial solutions to address challenges facing investment in irrigation.
“We are offering financial instrument solutions to help address some of the hurdles in the irrigation sector…we are here to begin a sustained outcome of job creation and farmer empowerment,” Fan said.
K-RISE will use three financing instruments, including a Results-Based Finance Facility that will provide rebates and grants to irrigation equipment dealers, suppliers and service providers based on verified sales and installations.
The facility will particularly support energy-efficient irrigation systems reaching smallholder farmers, with payments tied to verified outcomes.
“You expand your market; we get verified coverage,” Muriithi said.
The ministry will also use a Risk Sharing Facility to encourage commercial banks, microfinance institutions and SACCOs to develop irrigation-specific loan products by providing first-loss and partial credit guarantees.
A Patient Capital Facility will provide longer-term financing to address the extended repayment periods required by irrigation equipment suppliers and last-mile financiers.
Kenya has identified 10 irrigation schemes for a pilot programme aimed at increasing agricultural production and opening new markets for farmers.
The schemes cover about 14,819 acres and serve 52,115 farmers producing rice, maize, horticultural crops, vegetables, pulses, potatoes, onions and avocadoes.
The Government also wants farmers to strengthen produce aggregation through cooperatives while developing direct links with processors, exporters and other buyers.
