AgriTech4Kenya Consultation Workshop & Launch

Kenya consistently imports more than USD 1.1 billion worth of food each year. In 2022 alone, food imports rose from 13.4% to 15.5%. This marks a notable paradox given the country’s abundant fertile land. The heavy reliance on imports, coupled with the ever-growing challenges of climate change, poses significant obstacles to Kenya's food security and economic and agricultural development. Water scarcity is a particularly critical impediment to Kenyan agriculture, with prolonged dry seasons severely minimizing yields and subsequently affecting both livelihoods and food security. Additionally, the dominance of traditional agricultural practices grapples with resource constraints and yield inconsistencies and exacerbate productivity shortfalls. With 15 research centers globally, a network of over 9,000 scientists, researchers, technicians and staff, and Impact Areas in ‘Nutrition, Health and Food Security’ and ‘Climate Adaptation and Mitigation’, CGIAR is strategically positioned to address Kenya’s critical challenges. 

The Government of Kenya's initiatives – including the Big 4 Agenda and the Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy within the Vision 2030 – underscore the imperative for research-driven innovation to bolster food security and climate resilience. The transition towards sustainable agricultural practices necessitates the harmonious integration of science-based innovations, equitable finance, improved market access, and capacity building within the agritech ecosystem.  

In this context, the AgriTech4Kenya Innovation Challenge 2024 has been designed to catalyze agrifood systems transformation in Kenya by supporting the development, deployment, adoption, and scalability of high-impact, country-relevant science-based agritech solutions. 

The Consultation Workshop & Launch sets the stage for a pivotal dialogue among key stakeholders, including government officials, academicians, researchers, incubators, accelerators, venture funds, startups, and farmers, to explore and enhance the agrifood and climate-tech innovation landscape in Kenya. 

The workshop aims to: 

• Encourage Multi-Stakeholder Dialogue: Foster discussions on the transformative impact of agri-food and climate-tech innovations in addressing climate and market challenges impacting food security in Kenya. 

• Bridge Research and Innovation: Create synergies between cutting-edge research, technology, and entrepreneurship to enhance the scalability and efficiency of agritech solutions, thereby enriching the agrifood and climate-tech innovation landscape in Kenya. 

• Tailor the AgriTech4Kenya Innovation Challenge 2024: Validating information collected during the project Assessment & Design phase and ultimately serve to refine the key priority areas for the scouting of demand-driven innovations/solutions. The event will adopt a participatory approach to ensuring the process is beneficiary-centered, context-specific, and solutions-oriented.