Billions of shillings are flowing into the Galana-Kulalu project in Kilifi and Tana River counties.
The project has attracted private investors targeting large-scale crop production, while the government develops irrigation infrastructure expected to unlock 301,330 Acres.
In May 2025, President William Ruto announced that the government had allocated 250,000 acres of the Galana-Kulalu agricultural project to private investors under a public-private partnership model.
Among the companies involved are Selu Limited, Nyumba Agri Products Limited and UAE-based Al Dahra Group, with the government also investing heavily in the water infrastructure needed to support the expansion.
Selu’s KSh12.5 Billion Agricultural Investment
Selu Limited is one of the private companies involved in the Galana-Kulalu project.
According to the State Department for Irrigation, the company has committed KSh12.5 billion to its operations, with the investment covering storage infrastructure, irrigation works and internal farm roads.
The government identified Selu as a private party interested in developing 20,000 acres at Galana-Kulalu and facilitate large-scale production of staple crops, particularly maize and soya.
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The company’s stated ambition is to become the lowest-cost producer of staple food crops in Africa, using large-scale irrigation and modern agricultural technology to improve productivity and reduce production costs.
Selu plans to invest US$80 million, equivalent to KSh13 billion, in the project over three years, and the company has already injected KSh12.5 billion into the project.
The investment follows a pilot phase that produced higher maize yields than the national average. During the trials, Selu recorded yields of up to 35 bags of maize per acre, with each bag weighing 90 kilograms, which translates to 3.15 tonnes per acre, four times Kenya’s national average.
The company has since moved beyond the pilot stage, expanding its operations to thousands of acres for commercial and seed maize production.
Peter Njonjo, the former chief executive of Twiga Foods, founded and leads Selu. Twiga Foods.
The company is also working with international agricultural partners, including Campos, a Latin American farm-management group, and AgCo, a US-based precision-agriculture technology company.
Al Dahra’s Up to US$800 Million Plan
In April 2025, Al Dahra signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Kenyan government to lease and manage 180,000 acres of irrigated farmland at Galana-Kulalu.
The company estimated its investment at up to US$800 million, with the project expected to focus on large-scale irrigated agricultural production.
Al Dahra Group is a multinational agribusiness company headquartered in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
It was founded in 1995 and specializes in the cultivation, production, and trading of animal feed and essential food commodities, including forage, rice, flour, fruits, and vegetables. It operates across more than 40 markets, with agricultural holdings and operations in several countries.
Among the countries where the company has major agricultural operations are Romania, Serbia, Egypt, the United States and the UAE.
Nyumba Agri and the KSh40 Billion Dam
Nyumba Agri Products Limited invested more than KSh6 billion in the Galana-Kulalu project.
Its investment includes farming infrastructure, irrigation and value-addition activities, with plans to expand production as more water becomes available.
The expansion is linked to the government’s Athi-Galana Dam project. In December 2025, Kenya signed a KSh40 billion contract with China Communications Construction Company the engineer, construct, and finance the dam and its associated irrigation water-conveyance system.
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The planned reservoir will have a capacity of 305 million cubic meters and is expected to deliver an annual average of 1 billion cubic meters of water.
According to The National Irrigation Authority, the infrastructure will facilitate irrigation of up to 300,000 acres, allowing two cropping seasons each year.
Nyumba Agri Products Limited is the agricultural and food-security arm of the Nyumba Group.
Nyumba Agri produces a range of staple and horticultural crops, including maize, onions, tomatoes, watermelons and sugarcane, using modern irrigation systems.
Nyumba Agri operates as part of the Nyumba Group, a diversified Kenyan business group with interests spanning manufacturing, construction materials and agriculture. Other businesses associated with the group include Mombasa Cement, Corrugated Sheets, Standard Rolling Mills and Kavee Quarries, whose investment activities are handled by Nyumba Foundation.
The group was founded by businessman and philanthropist Hasmukh Kanji Patel, popularly known as Hasuu, who died in August 2024. Following his death, the group’s businesses and assets remained under the stewardship of the Patel family.
The group’s corporate operations are overseen by Group Chief Executive Officer Bhadra Shah and Chief Financial Officer Vishal Soni.
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