Africas
Kenya: Meat Firm Opens New Avenues for Herders
By allafrica.com
Apr 4, 2007, 09:29

Kenya: Meat Firm Opens New Avenues for Herders

The Nation (Nairobi)

April 3, 2007

Patrick Mayoyo
Nairobi

Fortunes of livestock farmers at the Coast are set to change for the better after the reopening of the Kenya Meat Commission plant at Kibarani, Mombasa. The plant is expected to provide a ready market for animals from the province and the neighbouring North Eastern.

The plant is also expected to contribute at least 40 per cent of the total sales of the processed meat while the one at Athi River will contribute 60 per cent.

Before President Kibaki reopened the plant recently, livestock farmers at the Coast used to export live animals mainly to Mauritius. Due to the costs involved, many did not earn sufficient profits from their trade.

The meat processing factory is also expected to create direct and indirect jobs in the surrounding areas.

According to KMC managing commissioner James Kimonye, the factory will also increase Kenya's foreign exchange earnings through export of livestock products.

Mr Kimonye said the Government had embarked on a programme of branding and vaccinating livestock from North Eastern Province as part of efforts to ensure that Kenya regains its share of the international livestock products market.

"We have to show that our livestock are from disease-free zones if we have to regain our share of the international market," he said.

The factory has not been licensed to process pork products and this is expected to endear its products to the populous Muslim community at the Coast and key export markets like Mauritius.

This, Mr Kimonye said, will make its products "Halal" or acceptable by Muslim standards.

The plant will also target the vibrant maritime industry by processing high quality meat products to be supplied to ships calling at Mombasa port.

Livestock and Fisheries Development minister Joseph Munyao said reopening of the factory will help address livestock marketing challenges in the Coast and North Eastern provinces.

According to him, the livestock industry has a high potential of contributing to the war against poverty as it will provide a ready market for livestock farmers in the two provinces.

New abattoirs will also be set up in Wajir, Eldoret, Mariakani, Keiyo, Garissa and Lokichoggio as part of efforts to boost livestock marketing in those areas.

It is estimated that Kenya has more than 10 million beef cattle. Most livestock is to be found in the arid and semi-arid areas that comprise 80 per cent of Kenya's land.

Efforts to improve livestock marketing have come at a time when focus has been put on how it can benefit pastoralists and be harnessed for economic development.

A report by the World Initiative for Sustainable Pastoralism shows that pastoralism may be the most economically viable land use system for the world's dry lands. It can also help in environmental conservation and prevent global warming.

The Global Review of the Economics of Pastoralism report says pastoralism can be up to 10 times more productive than commercial ranching.

Mr Munyao said that in the arid and semi-arid areas, livestock keeping accounts for nearly 90 per cent of employment opportunities and 95 per cent of family incomes.

The livestock sector in Kenya contributes about 10 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), in addition to being a major source of national food security.

According to Mr Munyao, the Livestock Development ministry had finalised a national livestock policy and was now formulating a dairy policy and a Dairy Industry Bill to be debated in Parliament.

The minister, however, said that the livestock sector was still facing several challenges, including low productivity, poor marketing, limited access to credit, high cost of inputs and the threat of livestock diseases.

A few weeks ago, hundreds of livestock died after an outbreak of Rift Valley Fever in different parts of the country. The disease also left tens of people dead.

Spread of disease

The Government has contained the spread of disease and no new cases have been reported in the recent past.

"Aggressive and integrated control measures involving mosquito vector control, livestock quarantines, vaccination, disease surveillance and public education were put in place to mitigate the effects of the fever," Mr Munyao said.

The minister said more than 1.5 million doses of RVF vaccine have been distributed in 33 districts and a further 750,000 doses are in stock.

As part of efforts to control the spread of livestock diseases, the ministry will create disease-free zones that will also promote access of livestock and livestock products for local and international buyers.

"We are in the process of establishing livestock export zones in an innovative strategy to increase exports in livestock and livestock products," he said.

The zones will initially be based at Coast, Laikipia District and the North-Rift Province.

"The creation of these zones has led to a renewed interest in our livestock by investors in the Middle East and the region. We now have an ongoing process of recapturing the export market for our livestock products," he said.

Since the export of live animals resumed in December 2004, Kenya has exported 11,850 cattle and 9,400 goats to Mauritius in the last one-and-a-half years.

When he presided over the reopening of the plant, President Kibaki said the Government was rehabilitating the livestock-marketing infrastructure throughout Kenya to facilitate movement of livestock for trade.

All livestock holding grounds and stock routes will be rehabilitated and equipped to streamline the marketing of livestock.

Warning system

President Kibaki said the Government would establish a Centralised Livestock Early Warning System to deal with challenges brought about by drought.

Livestock producers, particularly in arid and semi arid districts, are compelled to temporarily move to other areas in search of pasture and water during droughts.

The President said that this complicated disease control efforts and caused conflicts among communities competing for scarce resources.

"We shall endeavour to enhance a community-based early warning system in all the arid and semi arid districts by providing reliable drought status information," President Kibaki said.

In addition, the Government is seeking to enhance the transfer of improved technologies in water harvesting, range management and disease control to herders.

The President said that the re-opening of the Kibarani factory was testimony of the Government's continued commitment to reviving strategic institutions that are crucial to the growth of the economy.

It is now left to herders to take advantage of the opportunity to maximise their earnings through sale of their livestock.


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