Galana Kulalu Project: History, cost, size, progress and the future of Kenya's mega farm

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Galana Kulalu Project: History, cost, size, progress and the future of Kenya's mega farm

Kenya's Galana Kulalu project is one of those rare agricultural ventures whose story is almost as big as the land itself.

Launched in 2013, the project was conceived as part of the country's ambition to expand irrigation, reduce dependence on rain-fed agriculture and make a major contribution to national food security.

The broader vision involved up to one million acres of intensive agriculture, making Galana Kulalu one of Kenya's most ambitious agricultural development projects.

The ranch itself spans about 1.75 million acres across Kilifi and Tana River counties, although successive plans have proposed different portions for development.

The current government programme is focused on opening up a much smaller initial commercial area before expanding irrigation further.

From mega-farm dream to troubled experiment

The first major phase involved Israeli company Green Arava, which was contracted to develop irrigation infrastructure and test large-scale crop production.

The original contract was valued at about Sh14.5 billion, with the project designed around centre-pivot and drip irrigation, water abstraction from the Galana River and supporting facilities such as drying, storage and machinery infrastructure.

The early agricultural results, however, fell well short of expectations.

In one season, 500 acres produced only about six 90-kilogramme bags of maize per acre.

Another harvest reached 31 bags per acre, while the project's original ambitions were considerably higher.

Flooding associated with El Niño rains was among the factors blamed for some of the poor results.

KIPPRA later identified wider problems including implementation weaknesses, inadequate knowledge transfer, under-utilised land and inconsistent government financing.

By 2020, KIPPRA reported that the government had spent approximately Sh15.3 billion between 2014 and 2019, while the project was still operating below its intended capacity.

For years, Galana Kulalu consequently became shorthand for Kenya's struggle to turn grand agricultural plans into commercially sustainable farms.

The project gets a second chance

That narrative began changing in 2023 when President William Ruto directed that Galana Kulalu move forward under a public-private partnership (PPP) model.

The new approach was fundamentally different:

Instead of government attempting to run the entire agricultural enterprise, private capital and commercial expertise would be brought into production while the state concentrated on enabling infrastructure.

SELU Limited became the lead private investor for the initial 20,000-acre commercial phase.

Under the PPP arrangement, the project has an estimated value of KSh12.5 billion over a 30-year contract.

The initial plan targets production of about 720,000 bags of maize and 160,000 bags of soya beans annually.

What is happening on the ground?

The difference is increasingly visible.

In 2025, SELU began commercial seed-maize production after irrigation infrastructure including a 20,000-cubic-metre intake well, lined canals and a 550,000-cubic-metre reservoir were completed.

The first harvest produced about 860,000 kilogrammes of seed maize from 330 acres.

By April 2026, Galana Kulalu had moved into the operations-and-maintenance phase of its PPP, according to the national PPP status report.

The project's infrastructure is also expanding.

The Sh1.49 billion Galana Bridge, designed to improve movement of farm inputs and produce, was reported at about 90 percent completion in February 2026.

The water question

Water remains the key to Galana Kulalu's future.

The government is pursuing the Athi/Galana Dam, intended to provide the water needed for large-scale expansion.

Current plans envisage the project eventually supporting about 200,000 acres or more, although official documents have used different figures for different development phases.

The 20,000-acre PPP is not the same thing as the much larger future irrigation footprint.

If the dam and associated conveyance infrastructure are successfully delivered, Galana Kulalu could move from an isolated demonstration farm into a major irrigated agricultural zone.

Can Galana Kulalu finally deliver?

The project has already demonstrated that irrigation can make large-scale commercial production possible in an area long constrained by rainfall.

But its history is also a warning:

Infrastructure alone does not guarantee agricultural success.

Reliable electricity, roads, water management, markets, storage, farm management and commercially viable yields will determine whether Galana Kulalu becomes another expensive government experiment or a genuine agricultural transformation.

For now, Kenya's mega-farm is no longer merely a promise on paper.

Galana Kulalu is farming again - and its second chance may ultimately determine whether one of Kenya's boldest food-security ideas can finally live up to its original ambition.

Reporting originally appeared via Pulse Live Kenya. Read the full source for additional context.