Evolution of Kenyan agricultural policy

The political and economic pressures which gave rise to the current agricultural policy environment in Kenya are reviewed. Colonial policies were favourable to agriculture and its mainly large (European) landholder focus. After independence policies at first antithetical to agriculture were followed once again by favourable policies reflecting the power of the African political élite, many of whom became large landholders after independence. Interventionist but favourable initiatives in agriculture have continued to the present.