Speaking in Nairobi when he officially opened the Financing Agri-Food Systems Sustainably (FINAS) 2025 conference Cabinet Secretary for Agriculture and livesstock Development Hon.Mutahi  Kagwe told the gathering of talks going on in collaboration with the National Treasury, Parliament, and other policymakers to significantly increase the sector’s share of the national budget in this coming financial year.

“For there to be a successful agricultural transformation it is imperative for collaboration among government, financial institutions” said CS kagwe.

Cabinet Secretary added that despite Agriculture contributing a staggering 50% to our GDP—22.5 % directly and an additional 25-30% through indirect linkages—agriculture currently receives only 3% of the GDP.

CS Kagwe also he beamoned the lack of support from commercial banks, revealing that only 3% of the US$49 billion in loans issued by banks in 2023 went to the agriculture sector.

The cabinet Secretary alluded this to the perceived high risk, lack of collateral, and underdeveloped rural capital markets—but it no longer needs to be this way,

Kagwe also backed the creation of a dedicated exchequer-funded agriculture finance facility, modeled after existing structures like the Constituency Development Fund (CDF).

He revealed plans to recapitalize the Agricultural Finance Corporation (AFC) and merge it with the Commodities Fund, aiming to scale up the institution’s ability to meet capital demands in Agriculture Financing.

The Financing Agri-food Systems Sustainably – FINAS 2025 summit is a buildup of the conversations that formed the FINAS 2024 dialogue which was marked by key action areas spanning from Inclusive finance, Strengthening farmer cooperatives, Policy and regulatory environment, De-risking investment in agriculture, Leveraging technologies, digitalization and innovative research Partnerships and collaboration, Capacity building and knowledge sharing.