The closure of USAID in 2025 under the Trump administration marked a seismic shift in Kenya’s development landscape. Overnight, decades of U.S. investment in health, agriculture, governance, and youth programming came to a halt. Clinics closed. Civil society organizations laid off staff. Livelihoods vanished. While the humanitarian impact is undeniable, a new paradigm is emerging—one defined less by aid and more by investment.

Agriculture remains the backbone of economies like Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda – and a sector where traditional aid often played a big role (through grants, input subsidies, and extension programs). Now, development finance is helping modernize agriculture and agribusiness through investments that span the entire value chain.

The pivot from aid to investment in East Africa is not just a funding shift — it reflects a larger transformation in the global development landscape. The closure of USAID in 2025 was a highly visible rupture, but it’s only one part of a deeper trend. Across the board, traditional aid flows are contracting.