(NAIROBI, KENYA) – Kenya and Uganda are working to expand maize and wider agricultural trade under the African Continental Free Trade Area. Kenya has indicated readiness to buy more maize from Uganda but wants stronger measures to ensure the grain is properly dried and free of aflatoxin before it crosses the border.
Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe said Uganda is well placed to supply part of Kenya’s maize deficit. He urged Uganda to strengthen post harvest handling systems so that farmers can dry maize properly and address aflatoxin concerns before export. Kagwe said such measures would create a win win situation by opening bigger markets for Ugandan farmers while ensuring Kenyan consumers receive safe and quality food.
“We need a system in Uganda where maize is dried before it crosses the border,” Kagwe said. “We can buy, but we need aflatoxin free maize.”
He said concerns around moisture and aflatoxin levels have made some Kenyan millers reluctant to buy maize from across the border. Addressing the issue at source would help increase trade. Kagwe said Kenya will continue protecting consumers by ensuring food entering the country meets established safety and quality standards, even as it works with neighbouring countries to expand regional trade.
Kagwe placed the maize issue within the wider AfCFTA conversation. He said African countries should work together to remove practical obstacles that continue limiting agricultural trade instead of allowing them to deny farmers access to markets. He said countries should ease small tariff and non tariff barriers and look for ways to make agriculture a win win situation.
He said different African countries enjoy different agricultural advantages and should use them to support each other, especially where one country has the capacity to supply commodities needed by another.
Kagwe also invited Uganda to consider adopting Kenya’s Animal Identification and Traceability technology, known as ANITRAC. He said the system targets about 77 million livestock and is helping strengthen animal identification, traceability and efforts against cattle rustling. He said improved identification makes it harder for stolen livestock to enter legitimate markets.
He called for greater sharing of agricultural technologies and knowledge between Kenya and Uganda, saying regional integration should create practical benefits for farmers and consumers.
The meeting brought together Kagwe, Kenyan legislators and senior ministry officials alongside members of Uganda’s Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture. The discussions reflected a shared position that AfCFTA must move beyond agreements on paper and translate into real markets for African farmers, increased investment in agriculture, greater value addition and safe food for consumers.
The Ugandan Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture called for greater intra African agricultural trade, noting that despite the establishment of AfCFTA, African countries are still not trading enough among themselves. The delegation called for harmonisation of agricultural and trade protocols, including within the East African Community, to allow movement of produce while maintaining appropriate safety and quality standards.
The Ugandan delegation identified climate change, water for production, pest and disease control, energy, cold storage, extension services, weak markets, value addition and agribusiness as challenges requiring greater investment and regional cooperation.
Agricultural financing also emerged as a shared concern. Legislators from both countries warned that the sector remains underfunded despite carrying much of the responsibility for food security, employment and rural livelihoods. The Ugandan delegation said agriculture receives about 2.2% of the country’s national budget, which remains inadequate given the sector’s importance to the economy.
Kenya’s National Assembly Agriculture and Livestock Committee Chairperson Dr John Mutunga said Kenya also needs to increase investment in agriculture if the sector is to realise its potential as a major creator of jobs. He said countries that successfully transformed their economies deliberately organised and invested in agriculture before developing agro processing, value addition and industries that created employment.
Mutunga cited Kenya’s fertiliser and seed subsidy programmes, interventions to improve soil health and expansion of last mile distribution as measures aimed at raising agricultural productivity. He said Kenya’s farmer registration has grown from about 250,000 to more than 7.2 million farmers, giving the government a stronger platform for targeting agricultural interventions.