NAIROBI, Kenya—The Kenyan government has initiated a robust development program to enhance the beef and leather value chains, particularly in Arid and Semi-Arid Land (ASAL) counties.
This initiative is set to create jobs and improve livelihoods for millions involved in the livestock sector.
According to Livestock Principal Secretary Jonathan Mueke, Kenya boasts over 18 million cattle, 18 million sheep, 28 million goats, and three million camels.
Additionally, about 60 percent of households keep livestock, including 30 million poultry and 300,000 pigs.
“The livestock sector contributes over 10 percent to Kenya’s GDP and 40 percent to agricultural GDP. However, access to valuable markets remains a significant challenge for most livestock producers, especially in the beef value chain,” Mueke stated.
To tackle these challenges, the government has opened export opportunities in several countries and is working on enhancing the competitiveness of the livestock value chain by addressing the bottlenecks faced by producers and market actors.
Efforts include streamlining the local beef market and the leather industry through numerous initiatives.
One such initiative is the World Bank-funded De-risking Inclusion and Value Enhancement of Pastoralist Economies (DRIVE) project.
This national government initiative, implemented in partnership with county governments and the private sector, aims to ensure that livestock production is economical and sustainable for value chain actors.
Through the DRIVE project, pastoralists will access local and export markets using cooperative aggregation models similar to those in the dairy sector.
“This model not only delivers more value to pastoralists but also optimizes the cost of doing business for market actors like local abattoirs and exporters,” Mueke explained.
Additionally, the government is developing livestock traceability systems to identify livestock, reduce theft, enhance food safety, and strengthen Kenya’s global competitiveness.
The DRIVE project has already insured over 500,000 cow equivalents and aims to enhance pastoralists’ organization to facilitate efficient access to services and markets.
Hope Murera, CEO of ZEP-RE (PTA Reinsurance Company), emphasized the project’s goal to improve access to financial services such as insurance and credit, as well as livestock markets through the promotion of aggregation models that retain value at the community level.
Pastoralists across the 21 project counties will sell their animals in a coordinated manner to both local and export markets.
To support these market access efforts, Mueke noted that the State Department for Livestock is concluding market studies for beef and leather value chains to further enrich understanding and articulate investment opportunities for both public and private sector actors.
