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Originally published by Capital Businessbusiness
December 4, 2025
6h ago
Financing gap risks undermining Kenya’s agriculture growth, experts warn
Kenya’s agriculture sector, contributing over 25% of GDP, faces critical underfunding. Experts highlight the $65 billion African financing gap, stressing urgent action to boost smallholder access to credit, technology, and infrastructure...
✨ Key Highlights
Kenya's agricultural sector, a significant contributor to the nation's GDP, is facing a critical financing gap that threatens its growth and competitiveness in global markets, according to experts. Underfunding is undermining long-term economic goals despite the sector employing millions.
- Agriculture contributes over 25 percent of GDP but receives less than five percent of total bank lending, while Kenya spends around Sh250 billion annually on food imports.
- Absa Bank Kenya, through its Head of Agribusiness Simon Kinuthia, aims to scale lending to match agriculture’s economic weight, targeting over 20 percent.
- The "missing middle" in financing, where loan values are too risky for commercial banks but too large for microfinance, often requires collateral of up to 120 percent, excluding most smallholder farmers, and poses higher barriers for women-led agribusinesses, as highlighted by Antoinette Tesha, Investment Director at Trade Catalyst Africa.
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