By Murimi Gitari, September 1, 2026, Kenya and the United States are exploring a university-anchored model to rebuild Kenya’s ailing agricultural extension system, officials from both countries said during a media engagement hosted by the US National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA) and its Kenyan implementing partner, Rootooba.
The proposal draws on the US land-grant university system, where research, teaching and extension work together to move technical knowledge from academic institutions directly to farmers. NASDA officials said Kenya’s own universities already hold strong research capacity that could have far greater impact if it were more systematically channelled to producers.
“We believe that extension can provide a vehicle to get that great technical information that you have out to your farmers and ranchers,” said Doug Miyamoto, Director of the Wyoming Department of Agriculture.
Kenyan university leaders, including Professor Daniel Mugendi Njiru, chair of the Vice-Chancellors Forum for Public Universities in Kenya, and Professor Ratemo Michieka, Chancellor of Tharaka University, backed the idea, pointing to decades of decline in the country’s extension services, particularly since agriculture was devolved to counties in 2013.
“As we all know, the issue of extension has not been handled very well in our counties, and yet agriculture is the backbone of our economy,” Mugendi Njiru said.
“We used to have an agricultural system here that worked very well in the 70s, in the 80s, and in the 90s, but somehow that broke down, and now we do not seem to have a very well-coordinated system,” he added.
NASDA CEO Ted McKinney, a former US Under Secretary of Agriculture for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs, said the organisation is offering to share its experience rather than prescribe a fix.
“We are here not to tell Kenya what to do. That is not our business. But maybe there is something that we can provide from our own rich experience with a robust extension system,” McKinney said.
He said NASDA has committed between $100,000 and $200,000 for an initial study to assess Kenya’s extension needs, involving consultations with universities, government officials, farmers and food processors. The findings, rather than a predetermined blueprint, are expected to guide further consultations before any larger intervention.
“It is not a complete do-over. It is not starting from scratch. You have got some history. But it will take some political will,” McKinney said, adding that decisions on Kenya’s agricultural policy direction would remain with Kenyan authorities.
The proposed model follows a “triple-helix” approach linking county governments, universities and industry — with counties handling coordination and policy support, universities contributing research, and industry supplying technical expertise and resources. Groundwork is expected to begin with a landscape assessment involving interviews with universities, the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO), county extension officers and farmers.
The initiative comes shortly after Kenya’s National Assembly passed the Agricultural and Livestock Extension Services Bill (Senate Bill No. 12 of 2022) on 10 June 2026, aimed at building a more coordinated, technology-driven and farmer-centred extension system to lift productivity, raise incomes and strengthen food security.
The discussions also touched on trade. US agricultural exports to Kenya stood at roughly $33 million to $43 million in 2024, ranking the US only 98th among Kenya’s agricultural export markets. Current exports are concentrated in vegetable oils, food preparations, planting seeds and pulses, while bigger commodities such as corn and soy-based animal feed remain constrained by Kenya’s restrictions on genetically modified products and by sanitary and phytosanitary approval processes that do not yet recognise US inspection certificates.
Miyamoto said the US is seeking greater access for animal feed exports while supporting wider entry for Kenyan coffee and cut flowers into the American market. McKinney pointed to potential growth in soybean meal, distillers’ grains and sorghum exports, a prospect he linked to Kenya’s reduced maize output in recent seasons, though he stressed that decisions on what enters Kenyan markets remain with Kenyan regulators.
