Agriculture is 21.8% of Kenya's economy — and falling, slowly.
Agriculture's share of GDP has slipped from around 25% a decade ago to roughly 22% today, even as the absolute value of agricultural output continues to rise. The sector still employs more Kenyans than every other sector combined and earns a substantial share of the country's export dollars — but public investment has consistently fallen short of the African Union's 10% Maputo Declaration target.
The share is shrinking. The dollars are not.
Kenya's economy has diversified — services, manufacturing, and digital sectors have outpaced agriculture in recent years. But the absolute value-added produced by the agricultural sector continues to climb. The story is not retreat; it is the rest of the economy growing faster.
Read alongside the employment dashboard: agriculture's share of jobs falls slowly, but its absolute headcount keeps rising because population growth still outpaces sectoral migration.
The share is shrinking. The dollars are not.
GDP share has slipped from 25% in 2014 to about 22% today, while value-added in absolute KSh has continued to climb. The story is structural transformation — the rest of the economy growing faster — not agricultural retreat.
Headline indicators
Methodology →Real growth — a volatile sector
By county →Drought, not policy, is what moves the curve.
The two contractions — 2021 (−0.4%) and 2022 (−1.6%) — both align with poor rainfall. The 2023 bounce-back to +6.5% followed normal rains, the fertiliser subsidy launch, and an export rebound. Volatility is the signature of weather-dependent agriculture.
Two contractions stand out — 2021 (drought) and 2022 (drought + fertiliser-price shock). The 2023 rebound to +6.5% followed normal rains, the launch of the fertiliser subsidy programme, and an export rebound.
How Kenya compares to its neighbours
World Bank →Kenya is mid-pack in the East African Community.
At 21.8% of GDP, agriculture is a smaller share of Kenya's economy than it is in Burundi, Rwanda or Uganda — and Kenya's economy has diversified furthest in the bloc.
Public spending is creeping up — but still under half the Maputo target.
The African Union's 10% target was set in 2003. Two decades later, Kenya allocates around 3.3% of total public spending to agriculture. The gap has narrowed, but slowly.
Where the agriculture budget goes
Commodity dashboards →Maize dominates the fiscal portfolio.
The Fertiliser Subsidy Programme and the State Dept of Crops account for roughly half the agriculture vote. Tea — Kenya's single largest export earner — commands barely 4% of the budget it effectively subsidises through tax-funded research and extension.