Kirinyaga County’s flagship economic empowerment programme, Wezesha Kirinyaga, is transforming rural livelihoods and positioning agriculture as a powerful engine for local prosperity. Governor Anne Waiguru highlighted the programme’s impact during her 2025 State of the County Address, noting that more than 100,000 households have benefited from expanded value chains, improved production capacity, and stronger market linkages. Since its launch in 2020, the initiative has invested over Sh540 million in supporting farmers across diverse sectors including dairy, rice, poultry, avocado, tomato, apiculture, aquaculture, goat rearing, and coffee. Waiguru said the programme has shifted farmers from subsistence to commercial agriculture, contributing to a drop in poverty levels from 23 to 21 percent and lifting an estimated 52,000 households out of poverty.
At the heart of the transformation is the county’s investment in farmer groups and cooperatives. A total of 804 farmers’ groups have received Sh253 million in production support, while 19 Farmers’ Producer Organizations have accessed Sh266 million to enhance aggregation, value addition, and market competitiveness. The county has also established multi-value chain SACCOs across all 20 wards to improve financial access for farmers and strengthen cooperative governance. These partnerships have fuelled impressive output across key value chains: rice production has more than doubled from 90,000 to 210,000 metric tonnes annually, bringing in over Sh15 billion in revenue; dairy yields per cow have risen from 2.5 to 7 litres daily; and avocado production has reached 15,000 tonnes, with plans to scale up further next year. Coffee farmers, backed by direct marketing reforms and strengthened cooperative leadership, are now earning up to Sh148 per kilogram—one of the highest payouts in the country.
Looking ahead, the county government plans to deepen value addition, expand post-harvest handling infrastructure, and strengthen farmers’ access to export markets to cushion them from price volatility and middlemen exploitation. Governor Waiguru emphasized that the next phase of Wezesha Kirinyaga focuses on sustainability and wealth creation, ensuring every farming household can grow its income consistently. With continued investment in modern agriculture, cooperative strengthening, and market-driven production, Kirinyaga aims to cement its status as one of Kenya’s leading agricultural hubs—and turn smallholder farming into a reliable pathway to prosperity for generations.