The Cabinet Secretary for Agriculture and Livestock Development, Mutahi Kagwe, has begun a week-long mission in the United States aimed at securing direct market access for Kenyan agricultural products. The delegation is focused on creating new opportunities for farmers by connecting their produce directly with major U.S. retailers.
On the first day of the mission, the Kenyan delegation met with retail giant Walmart, which operates over 40,000 outlets across the U.S. The goal was to open up a market for Kenyan tea, macadamia nuts, and other key exports.
During the meeting, MACNUT CEO Jane Maigua highlighted Kenya’s macadamia nuts as a premium product. She emphasized that the nuts are naturally grown without chemicals and sourced from more than 200,000 smallholder farmers. She also pointed out that Kenyan macadamia nuts have a competitive edge, benefiting from a 10% import duty in the U.S., compared to 30% for South African nuts. Maigua underlined Kenya’s reliable supply capacity and the nuts’ globally renowned buttery taste.
Leaders from the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA), Geoffrey Kirundi and Wilson Muthaura, also made their pitch, promoting Kenya’s ability to package tea at the source. This ensures freshness, traceability, and higher returns for farmers. As the world’s largest exporter of black tea, Kenya is seeking to expand its exports of value-added varieties, including green, orthodox, and the unique Kenyan innovation, purple tea.
The mission includes a series of high-level engagements with the U.S. Departments of Commerce and Agriculture, the Governor of South Carolina, and various private sector players. The delegation will also participate in the North America Tea Conference.
In South Carolina, CS Kagwe met with Milo’s Tea Company, a leading U.S. iced tea producer, to explore ways to increase Kenya’s share of U.S. tea imports, which currently stands at just 2%.