Tea, maize, and a diversifying crop portfolio.
Kenya's crop sector is defined by seven commodities: maize (the staple), tea (the export anchor), coffee (the legacy), cut flowers and horticulture (the growth story), sugarcane (the policy crop), and avocado (the newest entrant into global markets). Together they account for over KSh 636B in tracked farmgate value.
Tea dominates value. Maize dominates volume.
Tea commands nearly KSh 218 billion in farmgate value — 34% of all tracked crop income — despite being grown on roughly 10% of Kenya's agricultural land. Maize, planted everywhere, is the volume crop: it feeds 40 million Kenyans but generates far less value per hectare.
Tea pulls the portfolio.
Tea alone (KSh 218B) exceeds the combined value of maize and sugarcane. Its dominance reflects both high unit prices and Kenya's comparative advantage in the high-altitude conditions of the western Rift.
Headline indicators
Maize — the staple
By county →Fertiliser subsidy moved the dial.
The dip in 2021–22 was drought-driven; the 2023–24 recovery to ~38M bags came with the Fertiliser Subsidy Programme distributing inputs at roughly half market price.
North Rift leads by a wide margin.
Trans Nzoia and Uasin Gishu alone account for over 20% of national maize output. The concentration in the North Rift makes the staple crop highly sensitive to local weather shocks.
Tea — the export anchor
Trade view →Volume is stable; price is the variable.
Kenya produces around 500–570kt of tea annually. The big swings in export earnings come from Mombasa auction price movements, not production.
Kericho and Bomet are the heartland.
The two western Rift counties account for roughly 38% of national tea output. Western Kenya is the volume powerhouse; central highland counties (Kiambu, Murang'a) produce less but sell at premium prices.
Coffee — a long decline, tentative recovery
Output fell 60% from the 1980s peak.
Land subdivision, disease, and low auction prices drove decades of decline. Output has stabilised around 50kt — a fraction of the 1980s peak of 130kt.
Mount Kenya cluster dominates.
Nyeri, Kirinyaga and Murang'a together account for almost half of national coffee output, reflecting the altitude, soils and cooperative infrastructure developed since the colonial era.
Horticulture — the growth story
Export breakdown →Fruits overtake vegetables.
Avocados, mangoes and other fresh fruits now rival vegetables in export earnings. Cut flowers remain the dominant category but growth momentum has shifted to fresh produce.
Netherlands is the gateway, not the destination.
The 62% share for the Netherlands reflects Rotterdam's role as a re-export hub. The actual consumer is spread across Europe, but Dutch auction prices set the market.
Avocado — the newest export star
Exports grew 5× in eight years.
Kenya went from 27kt in 2016 to 138kt in 2024, driven by Hass avocado expansion in Murang'a, Meru and the central highlands. Kenya is now the leading African avocado exporter by volume.