By Pascal Ndegwa - Reporter
Kenya, October 8, 2026 - Wajir Governor Ahmed Abdullahi on Thursday welcomed President William Ruto to the second day of the Agriculture & Food Systems Transformation Summit in Nairobi and used the platform to ask a direct question: Is the farmer’s life improving?
He answered with a string of figures. Coffee prices have risen from KSh 50 to KSh 150 per kilogramme. Over the past four years, 34.4 million bags of subsidised fertiliser have been distributed. For the first time, 8.6 million farmers have been registered under the Kenya Integrated Agricultural Management Information System (KEMIS).
In pastoral counties, a Livestock Marketing Board has been established. Some 7.9 million animals have been vaccinated against disease. Through the pastoral resilience programme, 323,800 households are now covered by index-based livestock insurance and have received compensation during drought. Maize production has climbed to 46 million bags, while milk output has reached the highest level on the African continent. The Isiolo international slaughterhouse is complete, opening export markets for Kenyan meat.
Governor Abdullahi attributed these results to collaboration and co-implementation between the national government and the counties. He noted that the President had moved from stand to stand asking how successful operations on display could be scaled up, and urged county governments to fully support national programmes.
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“Farmers are earning more. They have better seeds. The President has invested heavily,” he said. Looking ahead to next year’s elections, the governor appealed to farmers not to be distracted by politics and to elect President Ruto for a second term so that the gains already made can be consolidated and expanded.