Irrigation policy review targets food security gaps

Nine years after Kenya adopted a national irrigation policy, the government has acknowledged that the framework failed to keep pace with changes in the sector it was meant to govern.

The State Department for Irrigation said the 2017 policy fell behind sector reforms and operational changes, leading to duplication of roles and coordination challenges among agencies. It has since launched a review to close those gaps.

Reforms since 2017 include the enactment of the Irrigation Act 2019 and the restructuring of the National Irrigation Board into the National Irrigation Authority, which expanded its mandate to cover smallholder and private schemes. Those changes effectively outpaced the policy framework, widening gaps now under review.

Principal Secretary for Irrigation Ephantus Kimotho received a progress briefing on the review on Wednesday in Nairobi, where a technical team outlined milestones achieved and stakeholder consultations completed.

The department said the review will focus on eliminating duplication, closing institutional gaps, strengthening governance and improving coordination in irrigation development.

The urgency is underscored by data. A Central Bank of Kenya survey in May 2025 found that 88 per cent of farmers rely on rainfall, while only 12 per cent use irrigation.

Irrigated land covers about two per cent of cultivated area, below the sub-Saharan Africa average of six per cent, according to Foresight4Food data.

More than 80 per cent of Kenya's land is classified as arid and semi-arid, receiving between 200 mm and 750 mm of rainfall annually, leaving farming exposed to recurrent drought shocks, according to Food and Agriculture Organisation data.

Under the National Expanded Irrigation Programme, 228,731 acres have been brought under irrigation across 44 counties, achieving 59.5 per cent of its target, according to the National Irrigation Authority.