Kenya and Korea are jointly undertaking the development of the Africa Rice Cultivation Complex, which will be based in Mwea, Kirinyaga County.

The foreign government, through Korea Rural Community Cooperation, will oversee construction of a 65-ha scale Rice Seed Cultivation Complex that has already commenced. The facility is scheduled for completion in 2028.

The project, being implemented by the Korea Program on International Agriculture (KOPIA) and the Kenya Agricultural Livestock Research Organization (KALRO), is looking at producing high-yield rice seed and also increasing farming household income.

Through a grant, the project will cost Sh129 million per year and will entail production of certified rice seed, besides infrastructural development and acquisition of the requisite machinery.

The KALRO Centre Director, Mwea, Dr. Ruth Musila, said the project will be able to develop a sustainable, certified rice seed system in the country.

“We want our farmers to be able to access affordable seeds,” she said.

The complex, Musila explained, will see the construction of a seed storage facility that will be able to accommodate about 1,000 tonnes of certified seeds at a go. It will also have dryers and a processing unit that will be used to process, dress, and package the seeds for availability to farmers.

The Centre Director further said that they have the necessary machinery and that they will be developing a paddy field for rice production in about 65 hectares of land.

“We want to mechanize the whole system so that we reduce the cost of producing rice seed, with a view to making it affordable for majority of the farmers in Mwea, the western region and Taita Taveta, as well as Bura and Hola,” she added.

Dr. Musila noted that the model is such that after production of the seed, it will be distributed, and one of the main distributors being targeted is the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) because within it there is also fertilizer that farmers purchase.

“Our target is to have rice self-sufficiency in Kenya and through this project, we want to reach about 30 percent, moving from the current, which is below 20 percent,” she said.

Talking of affordability, Dr. Musila said right now farmers are buying the seed at around Sh160 per kilogram, but we want to reduce this to about Sh100.

The complex, Dr. Musila said, will have an office block and a training block that will see training of seed growers as well as farmers on production of good seeds and also on commercial production of paddy rice.

The Kenyan government is actively working to boost rice production and reduce reliance on imports through initiatives such as purchasing rice from farmers, modernizing rice farming and also exploring partnerships for rice imports.

In January this year, the National Treasury and Economic Planning Cabinet Secretary, John Mbadi, said the government had set aside Sh150 million in the supplementary budget for the 2024/25 financial year to actualize the purchase of paddy from farmers.

By Wangari Ndirangu

Published Date: April 7, 2025