Kenya Plans Pioneering $1 Billion ‘Debt-for-Food’ Swap

Kenya aims to carry out a pioneering $1 billion debt-for-food security swap by March next year, a finance ministry document showed on Tuesday, as the country looks to novel solutions to ease its hefty debt burden. The plan is expected to work in a similar way as so-called debt-for-nature swaps carried out by several countries in recent years that offered lower interest rates in exchange for nature protection. A debt-for-food swap would likely allow a country to replace costly existing debt with lower-cost financing on condition it channelled the savings towards programmes to boost food security, finance experts say. … President William Ruto’s government spends roughly one-third of its revenue on interest payments – one of the highest ratios in the world – and is eager to bring debt spending down. Reuters