Deputy President Kithure Kindiki speaks during the official opening of the Agriculture and Food Security Transformation Summit at Jamhuri Park ASK Showground in Nairobi on October 7, 2026. / DPCS
Deputy President Kithure Kindiki has said that Kenya is now Africa’s leading exporter of processed milk.
Kindiki said milk production had increased from 4.6 billion litres to 5.2 billion litres, while the value of dairy products had risen from Sh4.9 billion to Sh8.9 billion.
He attributed the growth to government interventions aimed at strengthening agriculture and improving productivity across the dairy value chain.
Kindiki made the remarks on Wednesday, October 7, 2026, during the official opening of the Agriculture and Food Security Transformation Summit at Jamhuri Park ASK Showground in Nairobi.
He said the government had placed agriculture at the centre of Kenya’s transformation over the past four years, with measures targeting farmers, livestock keepers, production, value addition and food security.
“At the centre of this impressive transformation is the farmer: hard-working, resilient and patriotic enough to know that their work is not just about livelihood, it is also about making our country self-sufficient in matters food,” he said.
He further said the national register of farmers had grown from about 300,000 to 7.2 million crop farmers and three million livestock keepers.
Kindiki said livestock vaccination had also been expanded, with 8.9 million cattle vaccinated under an ongoing programme targeting the country’s estimated 22 million cattle and 50 million small stock.
He said the interventions had contributed to increased production and improved farmer incomes across various agricultural value chains.
Beyond dairy, Kindiki said Kenya had also recorded growth in meat exports, whose value had risen from Sh8.9 billion to Sh12.9 billion.
He said the government was also supporting agricultural value addition through the establishment of County Aggregation and Industrial Parks.
