Kenya Sets Aside Sh760 Million to Strengthen Food Safety and Standards
By Peace Muthoka
NAIROBI, Kenya — Kenya will invest Sh760 million over the next five years in strengthening food safety systems and improving product quality, as the country seeks to help local farmers, manufacturers and exporters meet international market requirements.
The funding will support the National Codex Strategic Plan 2026–2031, which Industrialisation Secretary Prof Erastus Gatebe launched in Nairobi on Wednesday. The strategy aims to strengthen Kenya’s role in shaping international food standards while ensuring locally produced food meets recognised safety requirements.
For Kenyan businesses seeking to sell beyond the local market, meeting food safety standards can determine whether their products gain acceptance abroad. Prof Gatebe said compliance would therefore be critical to improving the competitiveness of the country’s agricultural and manufactured products.
“One of the biggest challenges to trade is acceptance of products. When we meet all these standards, you are sure our products will be highly competitive and accepted,” he said.
He urged government institutions to set aside resources for the strategy, warning that its success would depend on sustained commitment and cooperation among agencies responsible for agriculture, health, standards and trade.
Gatebe said the plan also supports the government’s economic transformation agenda, particularly its focus on agriculture, value addition, small businesses and industrialisation.
Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) Director-General Esther Ngari said the strategy would strengthen the country’s capacity to contribute to the development of international food standards and ensure they are adopted locally.
Kenya joined the Codex Alimentarius Commission in 1969 and has since progressed to leadership positions within the international food standards body.
Ngari said the new five-year plan rests on three pillars: science-based standards, stronger institutional coordination and sustainable food safety practices
