Kenya will import one million 90kg bags of maize to rebuild its strategic reserves, Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe told lawmakers, after a dry spell cut yields across the country’s grain belt.
The national maize deficit is projected to reach 5.4 million 90kg bags by the end of September, a shortfall Kagwe said demands “urgent policy actions to fill.” Yields could fall by as much as 40 percent this season. Early rains arrived on schedule, but a prolonged dry spell followed and stressed crops just as they needed moisture to fill out their cobs.
The shortage marks a reversal. Kenya harvested about 67 million 90kg bags of maize in 2025, roughly 6 million tonnes, after output climbed from 34 million bags in 2022 as a government fertiliser subsidy programme helped farmers expand production.
Officials expected another strong season in 2026, forecasting further gains on the back of favourable early rains and expanded planting in the North Rift, the country’s main grain basket. Those expectations faded once the rains stopped. Crops wilted in leading producing counties such as Uasin Gishu and Trans Nzoia before farmers could bring in a full harvest, and assessments in some areas point to losses topping 30 percent.
“The projected depressed yields risk widening the maize deficit in the country, requiring contingency imports or release of strategic reserves to stabilize the domestic demand situation,” Kagwe said.
He added that the government may pursue the imports through a “government-to-government arrangement,” a route that can speed up procurement and cut out private trading intermediaries.
The turnaround shows how fast Kenya’s food security position can shift. A harvest once hailed by officials as a record has given way to renewed reliance on imports in the space of a single season, a reminder that one poor rainy period can erase years of gains in maize output.
