National Research Fund Champions Technology for Food Security

In Summary

• National Research Fund (NRF) emphasizes science and technology to tackle food security and climate change.
• Kenya National Research Festival 2025 at Egerton University to showcase innovations.
• Focus on drought-resistant seeds, bio-fortification, and digital market access.
• Event to foster collaboration among academia, government, and industry.
• Challenges include funding gaps and scaling local innovations.
• NRF collaborates with Uganda on €450,000 agro-processing research grants.

The National Research Fund (NRF) is advocating for science and technology-driven solutions to address Kenya’s food security challenges and combat climate change, as announced by NRF CEO Dickson Andala on August 5, 2025, in Nakuru.

Speaking at Egerton University’s Njoro Campus, the venue for the 2025 Kenya National Research Festival (KNRF), Andala emphasized that research and evidence-based innovations are critical for job creation, environmental sustainability, and public health improvements.

The KNRF, themed “Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security, Empowering Communities through Research, Science, Technology, and Innovation,” will feature live demonstrations, field visits, and case studies showcasing localized solutions like drought-resistant seed varieties, bio-fortification, and digitized market access.

“The festival will highlight how research can tackle food insecurity, especially in arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs),” Andala said, noting the need to move away from anecdotal decision-making to research-driven governance.

Kenya faces significant food security challenges, with 50% of Homa Bay’s population, for example, facing food shortages during peak periods, as reported in local efforts to revive indigenous maize. The NRF’s initiatives align with projects like Mwea’s irrigation expansion and Turkana’s contract farming, which leverage technology to boost yields.

The festival will also promote youth and women in agribusiness, building on successes like Vihiga’s partnership with the Mastercard Foundation.

In a related effort, NRF and the Ugandan National Council for Science and Technology (UNCST) launched a €450,000 joint call for research proposals on January 6, 2025, under the Science Granting Councils Initiative (SGCI). This funds four projects focused on agro-processing and leather value chains to enhance food security and socio-economic transformation in both countries.

Challenges include limited funding for research and scaling innovations, with farmers in regions like Turkana citing high input costs and water access issues. Andala stressed the importance of stakeholder collaboration, with KNRF 2025 aiming to connect academia, government, industry, and communities.

The event, set for August 13–15, 2025, follows a pre-festival grants capacity-building workshop in Nakuru, reinforcing NRF’s commitment to decentralizing knowledge-sharing.

Farmers like Joseph Natapar in Turkana, who benefit from contract farming, urged for more accessible technologies like drip irrigation. The NRF is also partnering with institutions like Masinde Muliro University and the Kenya Fisheries Service to advance sustainable practices, ensuring innovations reach vulnerable regions and support Kenya’s food security goals by 2030.