• PLO Lumumba questions Kenya food imports as the country spends billions on maize, milk and eggs that local farmers could easily produce.

PLO Lumumba Questions Kenya Food Imports as Milk and Egg Shortages Bite

PLO Lumumba Questions Kenya Food Imports as Milk and Egg Shortages Bite

Governance expert PLO Lumumba has questioned Kenya food imports, saying the country is spending resources on basic commodities that can be produced locally.

Speaking during an interview with a local station on Monday, September 28, 2026, Lumumba said Kenya was facing shortages of basic food commodities despite its potential to increase local production.

“We in our country, like Kenya for example, we have a shortage of maize, we have a shortage of milk, and we have a shortage of eggs,” Lumumba said, adding that Kenya has a shortage of everything.

He said Kenya food imports were using resources that could instead support local production and economic growth.

“We are importing. We consume 9 billion eggs, we produce just about 4 billion,” he said.

Lumumba said the country was importing the shortfall from Uganda and as far as China.

“We are importing 5 billion from Uganda, powdered; we are even going as far as China,” he said.

He said the situation raised questions about Kenya’s ability to grow its economy while spending money on food that could be produced by local farmers.

“So, when you are using your resources to finance basic things such as food which you can produce, how can your economy grow?” he said.

His remarks touch on a debate that has been building for years. Kenya has the land, the climate and the farmers to produce most of what it eats, yet it continues to import basic commodities in large volumes.

The egg sector offers a clear example. Local producers supply less than half of the eggs consumed in the country. The rest comes in as powdered eggs from Uganda and other markets, including China.

That gap represents lost income for Kenyan poultry farmers and lost jobs for those who would supply feed, equipment and transport.

Milk shortage puts focus on local production

Lumumba’s remarks come amid concerns over milk production and supply in Kenya.

Livestock Development Principal Secretary Jonathan Mueke recently warned dairy co-operatives against giving farmers poor returns, saying inadequate payments could discourage production and worsen the milk shortage.

Mueke said drought had affected milk production while farmers were also struggling with inadequate returns from milk sales.

“There is a shortage of milk. And that shortage has come because we had drought,” Mueke said during the handover of 12 bulk milk coolers to dairy co-operatives in Gatanga, Murang’a County.

He said farmers needed better returns to enable them to continue investing in dairy farming.

The 12 bulk milk coolers, valued at Ksh87.94 million, are expected to benefit more than 18,500 dairy farmers and support the aggregation of about 37,000 litres of milk daily.

Mueke urged co-operatives to ensure farmers benefit from better prices offered by processors.

“We are asking cooperatives, please, if you get good money for your milk from the processors, give the farmer good money for their milk,” he said.

Formal milk deliveries to processors fell by 3.7 per cent, from 84.4 million litres in June to 81.3 million litres in July 2026, according to figures from the Kenya Dairy Board.

Officials attributed the decline largely to seasonal conditions, inadequate rainfall and pressure on fodder supplies.

The fall in deliveries has been felt on supermarket shelves, with some retailers reporting low stocks of fresh milk and fewer brands available.

Government bets on cooling infrastructure

The government says 230 bulk milk coolers have already been delivered, with another 650 expected by January 2027.

The coolers are part of a broader push to strengthen the dairy value chain by reducing post-harvest losses and improving milk quality before it reaches processors.

For dairy farmers, especially those in co-operatives, cooling infrastructure can make a real difference. Milk that is not cooled quickly loses quality and may be rejected by processors.

But cooling alone will not solve the underlying problem. Farmers also need affordable animal feed, reliable markets and timely payment for their milk.

When feed prices rise and payments are delayed, many farmers reduce the number of animals they keep or shift to other enterprises. That reduces national production and deepens the shortage.

Why local production matters

Lumumba said Kenya needs to increase production of basic commodities locally and reduce the resources spent importing food that can be produced within the country.

His argument is straightforward. Every shilling spent importing eggs or milk powder is a shilling that could have gone to a Kenyan farmer.

For the country’s economy, the stakes are high. Kenya food imports put pressure on foreign exchange reserves, especially when the shilling weakens against major currencies.

They also expose consumers to global price swings and supply disruptions that are beyond Kenya’s control.

The solution, according to agricultural experts, lies in supporting local producers with better inputs, affordable credit, extension services and reliable markets.

For poultry farmers, that means access to quality chicks and affordable feed. For dairy farmers, it means better breeds, affordable feed and dependable payment systems.

Kenya has shown before that it can close production gaps when the right support is in place. The question is whether the current interventions will be enough to reduce Kenya food imports and strengthen local production.

 

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