A view of Kenya — Photo: John Storr · CC0 · via Wikimedia Commons, shown in greyscale

Topic 13 of 18 · Country Index 2026

Kenya: Food & Agriculture

What does a country grow, and what does it take to grow it?

Kenya is placed 151st of 175 countries on food & agriculture in the Country Index 2026, from 4 of its 4 key statistics. Readings behind it: Cereal Yield 1,758 (2023); Organic Agricultural Area 0.61 (2024).

Food & Agriculture

151st

of 175 countries placed

Country Index 2026, all topicsjoint 116th of 178 →

1,758Cereal Yield, 2023Cereal yield (kg per hectare)
0.61Organic Agricultural Area, 2024Organic share of agricultural land (%)
2,187Dietary Energy Supply, 2024Dietary energy supply (kcal per person per day)
0.12Agriculture Orientation Index, 2024Agriculture orientation index (1.0 = spending matches sector size)

01The evidence

The 4 key statistics that decide it

Only these place Kenya on food & agriculture — one vote each. Every value is the publisher’s own, read at the edition the Country Index 2026 used; the grey ticks are every other country it was compared with, lowest on the left.

Why these keys

Key 1 of 4
Cereal Yield
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Why it is a key: How much food a hectare of land produces: the clearest single measure of how productively a country farms.
2023 edition · data for 2023 · CC BY 4.0
1,758
Cereal yield (kg per hectare)
Higher is better
Kenya: 1,758. Across the 179 countries in this edition, values run from 23 (Cabo Verde) to 29,147 (Oman); the world median is 3,072.
World median
3,072
Best in Eastern Africa
11,643 Mauritius
Land neighbours
Ethiopia 2,656 · Somalia 503.5 · South Sudan 983.6 · Tanzania 1,961 · Uganda 1,958
Each grey tick is one of 179 countries in the 2023 edition.
Key 2 of 4
Organic Agricultural Area
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Why it is a key: Farmland managed without synthetic fertiliser or pesticide — how a country farms, set beside how much it grows.
2024 edition · data for 2024 · CC BY 4.0
0.61
Organic share of agricultural land (%)
Higher is better
Kenya: 0.61. Across the 156 countries in this edition, values run from 0 (Afghanistan) to 86.38 (Samoa); the world median is 0.725.
World median
0.725
Best in Eastern Africa
3.14 Uganda
Land neighbours
Ethiopia 0.59 · Tanzania 0.47 · Uganda 3.14
Each grey tick is one of 156 countries in the 2024 edition.
Key 3 of 4
Dietary Energy Supply
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Why it is a key: Whether the food a country produces and imports covers what its population needs to eat, measured before anyone has eaten it.
2024 edition · data for 2024 · CC BY 4.0
2,187
Dietary energy supply (kcal per person per day)
Higher is better
Kenya: 2,187. Across the 155 countries in this edition, values run from 1,757 (Somalia) to 3,962 (United States); the world median is 2,982.
World median
2,982
Best in Eastern Africa
3,319 Mauritius
Land neighbours
Ethiopia 2,539 · Somalia 1,757 · South Sudan 2,463 · Tanzania 2,527 · Uganda 2,430
Each grey tick is one of 155 countries in the 2024 edition.
Key 4 of 4
Agriculture Orientation Index
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Why it is a key: How much public spending agriculture attracts set against the share of the economy it produces — whether a state invests in its farms or lives off them.
2024 edition · data for 2024 · CC BY 4.0
0.12
Agriculture orientation index (1.0 = spending matches sector size)
Higher is better
Kenya: 0.12. Across the 132 countries in this edition, values run from 0.03 (Ghana) to 5.38 (Singapore); the world median is 0.305.
World median
0.305
Best in Eastern Africa
2.21 Zambia
Land neighbours
Ethiopia 0.09 · Tanzania 0.1 · Uganda 0.11
Each grey tick is one of 132 countries in the 2024 edition.

02Over time

Which way Kenya is moving

Each key’s published value, edition by edition, beside the world median. The Country Index 2026 is the first edition of the standing, so the standing itself has no history to chart yet.

Cereal Yield

Cereal yield (kg per hectare) · higher is better

KenyaWorld median

Kenya rose from 1,375 in 2000 to 1,758 in 2023; the world median went from 2,170 to 3,072.

Every year’s figures

Year	Kenya	World median
2023	1,757.5	3,072
2022	1,477.4	3,217
2021	1,522.4	3,003
2020	1,842.6	3,260
2019	1,604.7	3,106
2018	1,709.2	2,883
2017	1,426.0	2,984
2016	1,383.1	3,043
2015	1,772.7	3,000
2014	1,583.4	3,001
2013	1,661.5	2,970
2012	1,744.8	2,782
2011	1,514.6	2,754
2010	1,710.1	2,647
2009	1,242.8	2,653
2008	1,417.5	2,664
2007	1,773.1	2,553
2006	1,646.4	2,514
2005	1,646.1	2,512
2004	1,805.7	2,428
2003	1,594.0	2,331
2002	1,488.3	2,378
2001	1,639.6	2,199
2000	1,375.0	2,170

Organic Agricultural Area

Organic share of agricultural land (%) · higher is better

KenyaWorld median

Kenya rose from 0.01 in 2005 to 0.61 in 2024; the world median went from 0.345 to 0.725.

Every year’s figures

Year	Kenya	World median
2024	0.61	0.725
2023	0.60	0.780
2022	0.62	0.740
2021	0.45	0.710
2020	0.43	0.665
2019	0.54	0.550
2018	0.55	0.490
2017	0.63	0.630
2016	0.55	0.545
2015	0.54	0.540
2014	0.02	0.470
2013	0.02	0.440
2012	0.02	0.480
2011	0.02	0.460
2010	0.02	0.330
2009	0.02	0.335
2008	0.02	0.290
2007	0.02	0.370
2006	0.01	0.305
2005	0.01	0.345

Dietary Energy Supply

Dietary energy supply (kcal per person per day) · higher is better

KenyaWorld median

Kenya rose from 2,001 in 2001 to 2,187 in 2024; the world median went from 2,628 to 2,982.

Every year’s figures

Year	Kenya	World median
2024	2,187	2,982.0
2023	2,161	2,969.0
2022	2,152	2,962.5
2021	2,182	2,967.0
2020	2,230	2,934.0
2019	2,252	2,912.5
2018	2,233	2,893.0
2017	2,198	2,886.0
2016	2,200	2,863.0
2015	2,213	2,835.0
2014	2,233	2,844.0
2013	2,225	2,856.0
2012	2,209	2,838.0
2011	2,190	2,827.5
2010	2,157	2,808.0
2009	2,114	2,818.0
2008	2,073	2,811.0
2007	2,073	2,810.5
2006	2,093	2,772.0
2005	2,068	2,740.5
2004	2,018	2,712.5
2003	1,971	2,685.0
2002	1,985	2,667.0
2001	2,001	2,628.0

Agriculture Orientation Index

Agriculture orientation index (1.0 = spending matches sector size) · higher is better

KenyaWorld median

Kenya fell from 0.31 in 2001 to 0.12 in 2024; the world median went from 0.36 to 0.305.

Every year’s figures

Year	Kenya	World median
2024	0.12	0.305
2023	0.11	0.305
2022	0.11	0.290
2021	0.12	0.260
2020	0.12	0.255
2019	0.09	0.265
2018	0.08	0.270
2017	0.08	0.260
2016	0.08	0.285
2015	0.08	0.305
2014	0.15	0.300
2013	0.18	0.285
2012	0.19	0.330
2011	0.27	0.290
2010	0.22	0.320
2009	0.24	0.370
2008	0.22	0.390
2007	0.26	0.410
2006	0.21	0.355
2005	0.29	0.325
2004	0.30	0.320
2003	0.32	0.320
2002	0.35	0.340
2001	0.31	0.360

03In context

Kenya beside its neighbours

A position reads best beside the countries around it. Every position below is a place among all 175 countries on food & agriculture, never a place within the region.

Eastern Africa

1st175thNot placed · 49 countries with too few key statisticsNo data

The whole world on food & agriculture

Kenya and the countries it borders

The standing is each country’s place among all 175 placed on the topic; the other columns are the publishers’ own values, read at the edition the standing used.

Country	Standing	Cereal YieldCereal yield (kg per hectare)	Organic Agricultural AreaOrganic share of agricultural land (%)	Dietary Energy SupplyDietary energy supply (kcal per person per day)	Agriculture Orientation IndexAgriculture orientation index (1.0 = spending matches sector size)
Uganda	=131st	1,958	3.14	2,430	0.11
Ethiopia	140th	2,656	0.59	2,539	0.09
Tanzania	146th	1,961	0.47	2,527	0.1
Kenya	151st	1,758	0.61	2,187	0.12
South Sudan	165th	983.6	—	2,463	—
Somalia	175th	503.5	—	1,757	—

“—” means the publisher gives no reading for that country in that edition. A country needs readings on enough keys to be placed.

Across Eastern Africa

Every country in the sub-region, by its place among all 175.

Placed either side on food & agriculture

The countries immediately above and below Kenya in the topic’s list.

04Context, no vote

Where Kenya is ahead of the world, and behind

18 more statistics filed under food & agriculture, published in full and deliberately given no vote in the standing. Select a row for the publisher, the rank and the links.

Every country

Ahead of the world median3

Statistics on which Kenya does better than the middle country measured.

Global Report on Food CrisesFSIN · 2024 · world median 221222▲ Improved since 2016
Kenya: 12 · world median 22 · In IPC Phase 3+ (% of analysed population). Food Security Information Network (FSIN), 2025 edition, data for 2024.
Published values in that edition run from 3 to 56; lower is better.
Position 36th of 44 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = worst. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Chart and every country The 2025 dataset
Crop Production IndexFAO · 2022 · world median 106.23116.97106.23▲ Improved since 2012
Kenya: 116.97 · world median 106.23 · Crop production index (2014–2016 = 100). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2022 edition, data for 2022.
Published values in that edition run from 53.79 to 189.93; higher is better.
Position 56th of 195 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Chart and every country The 2022 dataset
Food Production IndexFAO · 2022 · world median 106.08112.38106.08No real change since 2012
Kenya: 112.38 · world median 106.08 · Food production index (2014–2016 = 100). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2022 edition, data for 2022.
Published values in that edition run from 71.08 to 177.49; higher is better.
Position 71st of 195 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Chart and every country The 2022 dataset

Behind the world median3

Statistics on which Kenya does worse than the middle country measured.

Livestock Production IndexFAO · 2022 · world median 107.06103.71107.06▼ Worsened since 2012
Kenya: 103.71 · world median 107.06 · Livestock production index (2014–2016 = 100). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2022 edition, data for 2022.
Published values in that edition run from 35.52 to 190.08; higher is better.
Position 115th of 194 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Chart and every country The 2022 dataset
Prevalence of Severe Food InsecurityFAO · 2023 · world median 4.728.14.7▼ Worsened since 2015
Kenya: 28.1 · world median 4.7 · Population in severe food insecurity (%). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2023 edition, data for 2023.
Published values in that edition run from 0 to 63.1; lower is better.
Position 9th of 127 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = worst. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Chart and every country The 2023 dataset
Prevalence of UndernourishmentFAO · 2023 · world median 5.236.85.2▼ Worsened since 2013
Kenya: 36.8 · world median 5.2 · Population undernourished (%). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2023 edition, data for 2023.
Published values in that edition run from 2.5 to 54.2; lower is better.
Position 7th of 104 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = worst. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Chart and every country The 2023 dataset

No better end12

These describe the shape of a country — more is not better or worse, only different — so they are never ahead or behind.

Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing Value Added (% of GDP)World Bank Group · 2025 · world median 6.57223.166.572Moved since 2015
Kenya: 23.16 · world median 6.572 · Agriculture, forestry and fishing value added (% of GDP). World Bank Group, 2025 edition, data for 2025.
Published values in that edition run from 0.025 to 47.59.
Position 20th of 158 — derived here by ordering the published values, counted from the highest value. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Chart and every country The 2025 dataset
Employment in AgricultureILO · 2025 · world median 14.3845.7914.38No real change since 2015
Kenya: 45.79 · world median 14.38 · Employment in agriculture (% of total employment). International Labour Organization (ILO), 2025 edition, data for 2025.
Published values in that edition run from 0.095 to 85.34.
Position 27th of 182 — derived here by ordering the published values, counted from the highest value. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Chart and every country The 2025 dataset
Agricultural EmissionsFAO · 2023 · world median 8,63553,6328,635Moved since 2013
Kenya: 53,632 · world median 8,635 · Farm-gate emissions (kt CO₂eq). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2023 edition, data for 2023.
Published values in that edition run from 0 to 1,044,508.
Position 32nd of 193 — derived here by ordering the published values, counted from the highest value. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Chart and every country The 2023 dataset
Land Under Cereal ProductionFAO · 2023 · world median 689,2782,928,050689,278No real change since 2013
Kenya: 2,928,050 · world median 689,278 · Land under cereal production (hectares). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2023 edition, data for 2023.
Published values in that edition run from 0 to 103,715,108.
Position 45th of 179 — derived here by ordering the published values, counted from the highest value. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Chart and every country The 2023 dataset
Water Withdrawal by SectorFAO · 2022 · world median 62.1480.2162.14Moved since 2012
Kenya: 80.21 · world median 62.14 · Freshwater withdrawn for agriculture (% of total). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2022 edition, data for 2022.
Published values in that edition run from 0 to 99.48.
Position 50th of 171 — derived here by ordering the published values, counted from the highest value. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Chart and every country The 2022 dataset
Agricultural LandFAO · 2023 · world median 37.9649.5337.96No real change since 2013
Kenya: 49.53 · world median 37.96 · Agricultural land (% of land area). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2023 edition, data for 2023.
Published values in that edition run from 0.445 to 86.48.
Position 63rd of 209 — derived here by ordering the published values, counted from the highest value. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Chart and every country The 2023 dataset
Livestock DensityFAO · 2023 · world median 0.5350.720.535Moved since 2013
Kenya: 0.72 · world median 0.535 · Livestock units per hectare of agricultural land. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2023 edition, data for 2023.
Published values in that edition run from 0.02 to 43.97.
Position 68th of 188 — derived here by ordering the published values, counted from the highest value. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Chart and every country The 2023 dataset
Cereal Import Dependency RatioFAO · 2022 · world median 42.849.542.8No real change since 2012
Kenya: 49.5 · world median 42.8 · Share of the cereal supply that is imported (%). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2022 edition, data for 2022.
Published values in that edition run from -1,894 to 100.
Chart and every country The 2022 dataset
Arable Land per PersonFAO · 2023 · world median 0.1090.120.109No real change since 2013
Kenya: 0.12 · world median 0.109 · Arable land (hectares per person). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2023 edition, data for 2023.
Published values in that edition run from 0 to 1.459.
Position 97th of 206 — derived here by ordering the published values, counted from the highest value. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Chart and every country The 2023 dataset
Fertilizer Consumption per HectareFAO · 2023 · world median 87.3650.4687.36No real change since 2013
Kenya: 50.46 · world median 87.36 · Fertilizer consumption (kg per hectare of arable land). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2023 edition, data for 2023.
Published values in that edition run from 0 to 2,926.
Position 119th of 188 — derived here by ordering the published values, counted from the highest value. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Chart and every country The 2023 dataset
Pesticide Use per HectareFAO · 2024 · world median 1.730.91.73No real change since 2014
Kenya: 0.9 · world median 1.73 · Pesticide use (kg per hectare of cropland). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2024 edition, data for 2024.
Published values in that edition run from 0 to 37.72.
Position 123rd of 178 — derived here by ordering the published values, counted from the highest value. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Chart and every country The 2024 dataset
Agricultural Irrigated LandFAO · 2023 · world median 3.660.9653.66No earlier reading
Kenya: 0.965 · world median 3.66 · Irrigated share of agricultural land (%). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2023 edition, data for 2023.
Published values in that edition run from 0.003 to 89.04.
Position 87th of 121 — derived here by ordering the published values, counted from the highest value. The publisher ranks no country on this.
Chart and every country The 2023 dataset

05Country Index 2026

Food & Agriculture among Kenya’s 15 topics

Food & Agriculture is Kenya’s 14th best-placed topic of 15. Strongest first; each marker sits at the position divided by that topic’s field, so fields of different sizes compare fairly.

On the profile

No standing on Mobility & Trade: too few of those topics’ key statistics are published for this country.

06The top of the list

Who leads on food & agriculture

The three countries placed highest of 175, and the leaders Kenya can most readily be measured against.

All 175 countries

1
Austria
Western Europe
1st of 175 · 4 of 4 keys
Photo: chensiyuan · CC BY-SA 4.0, greyscale
2
Ireland
Northern Europe
2nd of 175 · 4 of 4 keys
Photo: derivative work: Jjtkk · CC BY-SA 2.0, greyscale
3
Czechia
Eastern Europe
3rd of 175 · 4 of 4 keys
Photo: john mcsporran from Trossachs, Scotland · CC BY 2.0, greyscale

Placed highest nearby

Highest in Africa
Egypt54th4/4 keys
Highest in Eastern Africa
Mauritius=62nd4/4 keys
This page
Kenya151st4/4 keys

Positions out of 175 placed on the topic. A country needs readings on enough keys to be placed, and the top of the list is often held on fewer of them.

07Questions

Kenya on food & agriculture: questions answered

Every answer is built from the numbers on this page, so none can say something the page does not.

How does Kenya rank on food & agriculture?

Kenya is placed 151st of 175 countries on Food & Agriculture in the Country Index 2026, from 4 of its 4 key statistics (Cereal Yield, Organic Agricultural Area, Dietary Energy Supply and Agriculture Orientation Index). The position is this site’s ordering of published statistics, not a rank any publisher printed.

What is the latest Cereal Yield figure for Kenya?

1,758 in 2023 (cereal yield (kg per hectare)), according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The world median in the same edition was 3,072.

What is the latest Organic Agricultural Area figure for Kenya?

0.61 in 2024 (organic share of agricultural land (%)), according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The world median in the same edition was 0.725.

How does Kenya compare with Ethiopia on food & agriculture?

Ethiopia is placed 140th of 175, and Kenya 151st. Cereal Yield: Ethiopia 2,656, Kenya 1,758; Organic Agricultural Area: Ethiopia 0.59, Kenya 0.61; Dietary Energy Supply: Ethiopia 2,539, Kenya 2,187; Agriculture Orientation Index: Ethiopia 0.09, Kenya 0.12.

How have Kenya’s food & agriculture figures changed?

Cereal Yield rose from 1,375 in 2000 to 1,758 in 2023; Organic Agricultural Area rose from 0.01 in 2005 to 0.61 in 2024; Dietary Energy Supply rose from 2,001 in 2001 to 2,187 in 2024; Agriculture Orientation Index fell from 0.31 in 2001 to 0.12 in 2024.

08Keep reading

Explore further

Food & Agriculture

Kenya, topic by topic

Nearby, on food & agriculture

The key statistics, for every country

09Method

Method, sources and how to cite

What this topic does not measure

This subject is about production and land use, not about whether people are fed. Hunger, undernourishment and what a population actually eats are measured under Health & Wellbeing, and the two regularly disagree — a country can grow a great deal and still leave many people short, and one that grows little can be well fed by trade. The wider environmental cost of farming — emissions, water withdrawal, forest cover — is filed under Environment & Sustainability.

About food & agriculture, in full

How the Food & Agriculture standing is decided, step by step

A standing is a place in a list, not a mark out of anything. This one is part of the Country Index 2026, and it is worked out like this.

A few key indicators decide it; the rest are context. 4 indicators on this topic are keys and 18 are charted alongside them without a vote. That split is the point: if every statistic voted, importing five more of one kind would quietly change what the topic is about.
Each key is read at one edition. ⚠ The keys behind this standing do not all describe the same year — they run from 2023 to 2024, because publishers release on their own schedules. Read the standing as “how this country places now”, not as a snapshot of one year.
Every country’s published value is turned into a place within that one key’s own field, and then expressed as a share of that field — how far down this key’s list the country sits, rather than how many countries are above it. Keys where a higher published number is worse (terrorism, hunger, disaster risk) are turned round first, so the good end is always the same end.
Dividing by the field first is the whole reason this works. A place carries the size of its list inside it: 22nd of 44 and 108th of 215 are the same showing, and averaging the numbers 22 and 108 says loudly that they are not. Fields on this site run from about 44 countries to about 215, so averaging raw places would reward a country for happening to be measured in small ones. Dividing each place by its own field removes the size and leaves only the showing.
The shares are averaged, plainly. One key, one vote — no key is weighted above another, because any weighting would be this site’s opinion presented as a measurement. Countries are then put in order by that average, and the average itself is never published. It is our arithmetic with nothing anchoring it, so printing it would invite it to be read as a measurement somebody made. The position it produces, the band, and the keys it was built from are all published instead — every one of them checkable against the tables on this page.
A country needs 2 of this topic’s 4 keys — half, rounded up, and never fewer than 2. A standing built from one reading, printed beside one built from four, is two different things sharing a column heading. 175 countries clear the bar here.
A key has to earn its vote every edition. It must measure at least 120 countries (below that it starts measuring who was surveyed rather than the world), it must not have more than 10% of its field tied at either end, and it must not repeat another key in the same topic — Spearman correlation above 0.92 counts as repeating. A topic needs at least 2 surviving keys to place anyone at all; this one has 4.
A standing is relative, and the grouping is ours. It says where a country places against the others measured alongside it, so it moves when they move. The publishers listed on this page did not agree to be read together, and each measures its subject its own way: the underlying numbers are theirs, the ordering on top is this site’s — the same method as the rest of the Country Index, applied to one subject instead of all of them.

The key statistics and their licences

Cereal Yield — Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), CC BY 4.0
Organic Agricultural Area — Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), CC BY 4.0
Dietary Energy Supply — Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), CC BY 4.0
Agriculture Orientation Index — Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), CC BY 4.0

The other 18 statistics on this page come from 4 publishers, each named beside its numbers, with every edition and licence on the datasets pages.

The standing itself is part of the Country Index 2026, published under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Photographs

Kenya’s banner and the countries placed highest, from their profiles: Wikimedia Commons, shown in greyscale, each used under the licence named.

Kenya (banner) — John Storr, CC0
Austria — chensiyuan, CC BY-SA 4.0
Ireland — derivative work: Jjtkk, CC BY-SA 2.0
Czechia — john mcsporran from Trossachs, Scotland, CC BY 2.0

Cite this page

Nations Inquiry (2026). Kenya: Food & Agriculture — standing and statistics, Country Index 2026. https://nationsinquiry.com/countries/kenya/food