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Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Sen. Mutahi Kagwe has challenged African countries to intensify efforts toward value addition and push for reforms in global trade policies that he says continue to disadvantage the continent’s agricultural sector.
Speaking at the World Food Prize Foundation’s DialogueNext Forum, Kagwe criticized the practice of tariff escalation, where developed markets impose low or zero import duties on raw agricultural commodities while charging substantially higher tariffs on processed products.
He argued that the system has prevented African countries from fully benefiting from their agricultural resources by encouraging the export of unprocessed commodities while manufacturing, employment, and wealth creation take place in foreign markets.
“It is difficult to explain to an African farmer why it is acceptable to export raw coffee but prohibitively expensive to export roasted coffee,” Kagwe said.
The Cabinet Secretary noted that the existing trade framework has, for many years, discouraged industrial growth across Africa by limiting incentives for local processing and manufacturing.
He urged governments across the continent to adopt policies that promote domestic processing of agricultural produce before export, saying this would increase farmers’ earnings, stimulate industrial development, and create employment opportunities for young people.
Kagwe pointed to Kenya’s decision to prohibit the export of raw in-shell macadamia as an example of the country’s commitment to promoting value addition.
He said similar interventions should increasingly be applied across key export crops such as coffee and tea to ensure that processing, packaging, branding, and marketing are undertaken within producing countries rather than overseas.
“Every stage of processing completed within Africa creates jobs, increases farmers’ incomes and strengthens rural economies,” he said.
According to the CS, expanding agro-processing industries would create thousands of opportunities for young people in manufacturing, logistics, packaging, transport, and agricultural technology while strengthening rural economies.
Kagwe also expressed concern over policies that impose taxes on agro-processing equipment despite governments publicly committing to agricultural transformation.
He argued that such contradictory measures discourage private investment and slow the growth of local industries that could generate employment and increase export earnings.
In addition to trade reforms, the Cabinet Secretary called for financing models that better reflect the realities of agricultural production.
He said farmers require affordable long-term credit, flexible repayment schedules aligned with farming seasons, and weather-indexed insurance products that reduce the financial risks associated with climate change and unpredictable weather conditions.
The CS maintained that improving access to finance, strengthening local processing capacity, and reforming international trade rules are essential steps toward making agriculture more profitable and attractive, particularly to young people entering the sector.
“If we truly believe in equitable global development, international trade rules must reward value addition, not punish it,” Kagwe said.
He emphasized that Africa possesses enormous agricultural potential but must move beyond exporting raw commodities if it hopes to accelerate industrialization, create decent jobs, and improve livelihoods for millions of farmers.
Kagwe made the remarks during the World Food Prize Foundation’s DialogueNext Forum, held under the theme “Born to Feed the Future.” The forum brought together agriculture ministers, policymakers, researchers, development partners, private sector leaders, and farmer organizations from across Africa and other parts of the world to discuss sustainable food systems, agricultural innovation, and strategies for strengthening global food security.
By: Samuel Mwangi
