Wycliffe Musinde
President William Ruto on Saturday announced an expansive national dam-building programme designed to irrigate 1.5 million acres in northern Kenya and the coastal belt, positioning the initiative as the largest irrigation expansion in the country’s history.
Speaking during a development tour of Ijara Sub-County in Garissa County, the president said the government will construct 50 mega dams as part of a broader strategy to convert arid and semi-arid lands into high-yield agricultural production zones.
The announcement aligns with Ruto’s State of the Nation Address delivered on November 20, 2025, where he outlined a Sh5 trillion transformation blueprint aimed at propelling Kenya toward “First World” status.
Central to this agenda is a national water infrastructure programme comprising the 50 mega dams, 200 medium and small dams, and thousands of micro-dams, collectively targeted to bring 2.5 million acres under irrigation within the next five to seven years.
The president underscored that the plan directly tackles Kenya’s overdependence on rain-fed agriculture, which leaves 85 percent of arable land underutilized and drives annual food imports worth Sh500 billion.
“We cannot continue to be a nation that imports food worth Sh500 billion every year while our land waits for water,” Ruto said.
“Once we store and channel this water, the so-called arid and semi-arid lands will become Kenya’s new food baskets.” He added.
He emphasized that the dam projects are fundamental for water harvesting, storage, and distribution, and are essential to building climate resilience amid increasingly erratic rainfall patterns.
In Ijara, the president spotlighted the High Grand Falls Dam on River Daua in Mandera County as a flagship project poised to become the largest in Kenya’s history. Early phases in Ijara alone will irrigate 300 to 400 acres, with wider implementation extending to locations such as the Isiolo–Barsalinga Dam, Yatta Dam in Machakos, Lowaat in Turkana, and several dam sites in Kilifi.
According to the Ministry of Water, Sanitation and Irrigation, mapping for all project sites is complete, covering regions from Mandera in the north to Homa Bay in the west and Bungoma in the east.
Beyond boosting agricultural output, Ruto linked the irrigation drive to broader economic diversification. He noted that guaranteed water supply will provide consistent raw materials for manufacturing hubs, including Special Economic Zones, Export Processing Zones, and County Aggregation and Industrial Parks. He further tied the programme to the administration’s universal health coverage commitments, affirming the establishment of a Kenya Medical Training College campus in Ijara to strengthen local health-sector capacity.
The irrigation plan has attracted international backing. During a November 18, 2025 meeting at State House, the World Bank—represented by Africa Group One Executive Director Zarau Kibwe—pledged support through a National Infrastructure Fund that will also finance 20,000 km of rural roads and an additional 10,000 MW of electricity generation to drive industrialization.
However, the scale of the programme has sparked parliamentary scrutiny. Lawmakers began examining the financial architecture of the blueprint on November 24, 2025, amid concerns over funding sustainability and the avoidance of excessive debt.
Ruto has maintained that the dams will be financed through public–private partnerships and innovative revenue mechanisms, developed with input from senior political leaders including former President Uhuru Kenyatta and the late Raila Odinga.
As implementation timelines take shape, the programme represents a decisive shift for communities in northern and coastal Kenya that have long faced chronic water scarcity.
“The time has come to turn northern Kenya from a low-potential area into a high-potential region,” Ruto said in Ijara, reiterating his administration’s commitment to inclusive national development.