Equity Bank Kenya has partnered with Agri All Africa of South Africa to improve food security through large-scale rice cultivation in Tana River. The collaboration supports efforts to reduce Kenya’s rice deficit and strengthen local agricultural value chains.
The initiative was inaugurated by President William Ruto and Priscillah Dimakhatso, Co-founder of Boholo Group and Director at Agri All Africa. Dimakhatso, a seasoned entrepreneur and international business executive, highlighted the strategic approach taken to implement the project.
“We partnered with the government of Kenya through Tana & Athi Rivers Development Authority, TARDA in a Public-Private Partnership initiative to revive and bring to the surface the immense agricultural potential of this area, and in so doing, help address the rice deficit in the country, which is currently met through importation,” Dimakhatso explained.
She acknowledged Equity Bank Kenya’s role in providing strategic support. “We engaged Equity not just as a financial institution but as a partner with a deep understanding of agribusiness ecosystems and community empowerment through the Equity Group Foundation.”
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Despite early setbacks, including the devastating 2023 El Niño, the project has demonstrated resilience. “We lost significant acreage, but over 370 acres survived. That was a valuable lesson,” Dimakhatso reflected. “We studied what made that crop resilient and came back stronger with a second crop, determined to contribute towards reducing Kenya’s reliance on rice imports.”
Currently, 1,300 acres are under cultivation, with plans to expand to over 4,000 acres within the year. At peak production, Agri All Africa expects to produce more than 20,000 tonnes of rice annually, with yields of about three tonnes per acre.
Kenya imports approximately 1.2 million tonnes of rice annually while producing only 200,000 to 250,000 tonnes locally, a gap that strains foreign exchange, labor markets, and contributes to rural-urban migration. Agri All Africa aims to play a role in bridging this deficit through large-scale commercial farming and structured engagement with local producers.
During a visit to the farm at Gamba in Tana River County, Equity Bank Kenya Managing Director, Mr Moses Nyabanda, commended Agri All Africa’s approach. “One of the challenges we’ve seen over the past 40 years is that Africa doesn’t punch at its weight level,” he noted. “Despite having 60% of the world’s arable land, we only produce 10% of global food crops. Agri All Africa has demonstrated what’s possible when agricultural projects are structured for scale, and we see this as a model worth supporting.”
Mr Nyabanda emphasized that Equity Bank is aligning this collaboration with its commitment to the Africa Recovery and Resilience Plan (ARRP), which prioritizes agriculture as a key driver of economic transformation. “We’re not just looking at agriculture as a sector to finance; we see it as a pillar of economic growth,” he said. “Through our ecosystem approach, we are keen to explore ways to support structured agricultural development, whether through technical assistance, market linkages, or financial instruments tailored to the needs of agribusiness players.”
He further noted that increasing productivity requires more than land and labour — it demands investment in efficiency, mechanisation, and sustainable farming techniques. The project spans the entire rice value chain, from cultivation to milling. Dimakhatso underscored the importance of deeper collaboration across stakeholders, including financial institutions, technology providers, and government agencies.
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