Kenya is stepping into the spotlight as a regional leader in food loss reduction and post-harvest management, signalling a decisive move beyond rhetoric into measurable action. On 3-4 November 2025, the Ministry of Agriculture & Livestock Development (MoALD), in partnership with Champions 12.3 and the World Bank, convened a hybrid roundtable under the banner of the “Global Facility Initiative on Food Loss & Waste (FLW)”. This event brought together government, private-sector and development-partner stakeholders to accelerate Kenya’s response to the growing challenge of food losses across value chains.
Why Food Loss Reduction Matters
Globally, between 9 % and 40 % of food produced is lost before reaching the end-consumer—representing huge waste and lost value. In Kenya, up to 40 % of food produced is lost or wasted each year, amounting to large economic, environmental and social costs.
For example, national estimates show post-harvest losses for maize between 12 % and 20 %, translating into millions of bags of lost production annually.
Reducing these losses isn’t just about fewer leftovers—it’s about greater food security, higher farmer incomes, less pressure on land and water, and stronger resilience to climate-related shocks.
Key Focus Areas Emerging from the Roundtable
During the two-day forum, several critical themes emerged for advancing food-loss reduction:
- Technology access: Affordable, appropriate storage and handling technologies—such as hermetic storage, improved crates, mobile processing units and cold-chain solutions—are vital to reduce losses, especially for perishable crops.
- Flexible financing mechanisms: Smallholder farmers and value-chain actors often lack access to capital. The dialogue stressed blended finance, risk-sharing models and public-private partnerships to scale loss-reduction infrastructure.
- Data-driven interventions: Kenya’s newly published Kenya Post‑Harvest Management Strategy for Food Loss & Waste Reduction 2024‑2028 emphasises establishing baselines, tracking loss indicators and aligning county-level action plans.
- Market-orientation and value-chain diversification: Producers need to connect with demand, produce to quality and ensure traceability. Losses often occur when produce exceeds absorption capacity, spoils en route or fails to meet standards.
- Youth, innovation and partnerships: Young agritech entrepreneurs, startups and digital platforms were identified as key drivers of aggregation, logistics, traceability and ensuring the value chain becomes smarter and resilient.
- Awareness across the chain: From farm to fork, the conversation highlighted the importance of awareness—among producers, transporters, traders, retailers and consumers—about the hidden cost of food loss and waste.
The National Strategy: A Roadmap for Action
The Kenya Post-Harvest Management Strategy (2024-2028) targets a 50 % reduction in food losses and waste by 2028. It identifies key value chains—maize, rice, potatoes, horticultural crops and fish—and sets out strategic areas including:
- Infrastructure and technology upgrades (cold-chain, aggregation hubs, on-farm storage)
- Market access improvements and logistics
- Capacity building and extension services
- Policy, regulation and standardisation
- Financing mechanisms and investment mobilisation
By tying these elements into county-level implementation, Kenya is positioning itself to shift from pilots to scale.
Why the Time Is Ripe
The global push around SDG 12.3 (to halve per-capita food waste and reduce losses along production and supply chains by 2030) means momentum is on Kenya’s side. Also, with rising costs of inputs, climate volatility and pressure on food systems, reducing losses is arguably the lowest-hanging fruit in boosting both productivity and profitability.
Every tonne saved is one more tonne available for consumption—or sale. And every percentage point cut in loss is a direct gain for farmers, the economy and the planet.
The Next Step: From Commitment to Delivery
The real challenge now is executing at scale. Success will depend on:
- County-led loss-reduction programmes aligned with national strategy
- Investment in affordable, locally-adapted technologies with proper maintenance and training
- Financing packages tailored to smallholders and aggregators
- Performance monitoring, loss-tracking dashboards and transparent reporting
- Incentives to adoption, and partnerships with private-sector actors, research institutions and innovation hubs
The upcoming months will be telling: players who move fast, build partnerships and embed loss-reduction into their business models will gain competitive advantage.