Background
Galana Kulalu Food Security project is located in the coastal region within Kilifi and Tana River Counties, situated about 105km North West from Malindi town off the Malindi-Voi Road. The area borders Tsavo East National Park to the East and it is accessible through the Malindi-Tsavo Road. The project involves development of physical infrastructure for viable and economic utilization of the natural resources available within or accessible to the area making up the Galana Kulalu Ranches including but not limited to water storage, conveyance and distribution, irrigation, livestock production, aquaculture road network, land development, eco-tourism among others. It consists of various enterprises including maize, sugarcane, horticulture and orchards, dairy and beef ranching, fisheries, tourism and recreation, processing industries and human settlement.
Presidential Directives
In January 2023, the President issued a directive for Galana Kulalu Food Security Project to move forward under implementation of the project through Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) arrangement models. The aspects to be implemented under PPP included:
- Production on the already developed 10,000 acres, and an additional 10,000 acres in the medium term.
- Construction of Galana Dam to support another 350,000 acres for food production in the long term.
Status of Public Private Partnerships
Production in the 20,000 acres model farm
Selu Ltd submitted a Privately Initiated Proposal (PIP) to undertake production and after it was approved to move to the Project Development Phase, according to the PPP Act 2021, they embarked on trials on the already developed 10,000 acres. Their proposal was successfully evaluated and negotiations concluded. The Project Agreement drafting is currently ongoing. Once the agreement is finalized, it will be initialized, presented to the PPP committee for approval then Attorney General before it is signed and rolled out.
Development of Galana Dam
China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC – Kenya) submitted a Privately Initiated Proposal (PIP) to construct the Galana Dam. Their PIP was approved to move to the Project Development Phase, according to the PPP Act 2021. The Dam is designed to hold 306 million cubic meters of water and will be crucial in supporting agricultural activities on another 350,000 acres designated for food production. Currently evaluation of the CRBC proposal is ongoing.
Concurrently, efforts are being made to develop a comprehensive masterplan for Galana, envisaging it as an Agri-industrial park. This masterplan includes provisions for solar power installations, an industrial park, livestock and leather processing facilities, fertilizer production units, and residential settlements. These support services will ensure competitiveness and productivity improvement in Galana Kulalu.
