KENAFF has a rich and textured history dating back to the tempestuous times just after the WWII. Founded in Nakuru as the Kenya National Farmers Union (KNFU) around 1946, its main objective was to cater for the interests of white colonial farmers. Unfortunately, KNFU remained a bastion of white farmers until Kenya’s independence in 1963. After independence indigenous Kenyan small-scale farmers stated agitating for their union; an objective that was realized in 1973 when KNFU changed its constitution to accommodate smallholder farmers. That notwithstanding, KNFU of the 1970s remained a chiefdom of large-scale farmers and continued to wield a lot of power, including in determining prices paid to farmers by commodity marketing boards.

In the thirteen years to 1997, the Union’s fortunes and status nosedived fast. The decline was informed not only by internal leadership challenges but also by the upheaval in the country’s social, economic and political dynamics. During this period, the farmers’ voice at various levels of farmer representation as well as in the marketing boards was sorely missed. Some commodity associations took it upon themselves to replace the Union in the marketing boards but owing to their dedication to specific enterprises, the effect was not as significant as the KNFU’s.

The five years to 2002 a small team of visionary leaders met and determined to revitalize KNFU. They reached out to a wide range of stakeholders including farmers, Commodity Associations, development partners and the government through the Ministry of Agriculture. By the year 2002, the visionaries had among other things decided to sharply focus on member services, adopt a business orientation (in order to diversify its revenue base) and change the Union’s name. It was felt that these changes were necessary also as a way to break from the previous 13-15 years when farmers had no voice as KNFU became rudderless and ineffective. Ultimately, in 2002, the name changed to the Kenya National Federation of Agricultural Producers (KENFAP,) complete with a revival plan “Sowing the Seeds of renewal” and a new membership orientation—corporate rather than individual.