Matteo Marchisio Takes IFAD Kenya Post as Partnership Nears 50 Years

What changed

Matteo Marchisio has taken office as the International Fund for Agricultural Development’s Country Director and Representative to Kenya after presenting his credentials to Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi.

The appointment comes as Kenya and IFAD approach 50 years of cooperation. Kenya joined the agency in 1977; since then, IFAD has financed more than 20 programmes and projects in the country, mobilising nearly US$1.4 billion for rural development and agriculture.

Why it matters

Marchisio inherits a partnership facing a practical test: how to help farmers produce more while climate risks and rising costs make farming harder.

IFAD’s work in Kenya covers smallholder farming, rural businesses, financial services, agricultural value chains, market access and sustainable natural-resource management. It has also supported preparations for El Niño-related impacts, including early-warning systems and measures to protect vulnerable households and productive assets.

That makes the next phase more than a ceremonial handover. Kenya is trying to lower production costs, expand agribusiness, increase value addition and create rural jobs. Farmers’ ability to earn a living sits alongside the country’s wider food-security challenge.

The next clear marker is 2027, when IFAD is expected to prepare a new country strategy for Kenya. That process will show how future cooperation is aligned with national and county governments, farmers’ organisations, businesses and development partners. Kenya has also pledged support to IFAD’s Fourteenth Replenishment, adding a financing and governance dimension to the relationship.

The appointment itself does not reveal which programmes Marchisio will prioritise or how future investments will be divided. But the direction is clear: the nearly five-decade partnership is moving into a period when resilience, productivity and rural opportunity must be addressed together.