East Africa Turns to Investment, Not Just Aid, to Fix Its Farms

FAO • East Africa • August 2026

East Africa Turns to Investment, Not Just Aid, to Fix Its Farms

At the Hand-in-Hand Investment Forum in Kigali, Rwanda, the UN Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO) brought together governments, banks, and
agribusinesses from eight East African nations — including Ethiopia,
Kenya, Uganda, Somalia, and Rwanda — to unlock financing for irrigation,
livestock, coffee, and fisheries. The message from farm ministers was clear:
the region’s biggest blocker isn’t a lack of good ideas or hardy seeds, it’s
unreliable water access, thin credit, and extension advice that too often
never reaches the farmer who needs it. Rwanda alone brought $414 million in
investment-ready projects to the table, with real returns to smallholders
layered directly into the plans.