Kenya's food and beverage import bill reached a record Sh81.6 billion in the first quarter of 2026, representing a significant 40.9 percent increase from the same period in 2025. This surge, driven by dwindling domestic crop output and worsening drought conditions, underscores a growing reliance on foreign supplies for essential commodities like wheat, rice, edible oils, and sugar. Provisional data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) indicates this expenditure is the fastest growth in food imports since 2023, a period marked by drought and global supply chain disruptions. The intensifying drought, characterized by successive seasons of below-average rainfall, has exacerbated food insecurity, leading to an increase in the number of Kenyans requiring humanitarian food assistance.