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THE EXPORT AGENDA
CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES IN THE LIVESTOCK SECTOR
An interview with George Wamae of Kenya Livestock Market Systems Activity By Chrispine Onyango
L
ivestock is an important sector for the Kenyan economy with a potential to increase and benefit millions of people with jobs as well as nutritional intake. Data from the Ministry of Agriculture Livestock Fisheries and Cooperatives shows that the sector accounts for 12 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), contributes 40 percent to the agricultural GDP and employs about 50 percent of the agricultural workforce.
limiting the sector’s competitiveness. He says there is a disconnect between the livestock producers and the market with many actors such as livestock traders, intermediaries, and transporters, getting involved in a single transaction.
It is a major undertaking in the arid and semi-arid lands (ASAL) contributing 95 percent of household income. The sector creates a livelihood for more than 10 million people, mostly the pastoral communities.
Low livestock output is largely caused by inadequate feed and nutrition, widespread diseases, poor genetic potential, market problems, inefficiency of livestock development services with respect to credit, extension, and marketing. Poor infrastructure adversely affects delivery of extension services as well as transportation of livestock to the market.
In November 2021, at the inaugural national Meat Expo hosted in Nairobi, Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries Cabinet Secretary, Peter Munya, expressed optimism that the sector is set for a major revolution with a set of key bills being pushed in parliament that will see the sector receive more support from county governments as well as market facilitation from the national government. On their part, county governments are equally developing a livestock bill that will introduce mandatory creation of member-producer associations to help livestock owners aggregate their produce and sell them in bulk so as to eliminate middle men from the value chain, hence maximising profits. According to Dr George Wamae, Senior Market Systems Specialist at Kenya Livestock Market Systems (LMS), Kenya’s livestock sector is mainly fragmented and disorganised and poorly managed with low production standards, thereby
Meat Edition
“This creates high transaction costs and the producer bears most of the cost and receives the lowest profit margins,” he adds.
Another challenge bedevilling the sector is opaque and unregulated pricing mechanisms. With the information about the sector being limited, the absence of livestock marketing or trading groups is also an alarm bell for the sector and the situation is worsened by unavailability of market data. The prices are usually informal and speculative. Dr Wamae says pastoralists and other livestock keepers should consider investing in hay and fodder production to provide pasture during drought periods. Pasture can be used for domestic herds or sold to other livestock owners. However, breed improvement is another area not yet fully explored in the sector.