Business Daily (Nairobi)
Watoro Kamau
19 May 2008
Nairobi — The dairy sub-sector is reeling from the effects of post-election violence, which saw farmers lose about 170,000 cows worth Sh10 billion.
The loss, coupled with the combined effects of escalating cost of diesel used to power equipment at the farms, and high prices of livestock feeds due to the rising cost of the raw material such as maize and wheat, are negatively affecting the sub-sector.
A large number of dairy farmers who had obtained loans from Agricultural Finance Corporation and other financial institutions are also struggling to repay the money.
"The loss has now pushed most dairy farmers into abject poverty while being expected to continue servicing the huge loans they had secured from various financial institutions," said Mr Joseph Ng'era, an official of the Kenya Holstein-Freisian Cattle Society.
Urgent measures
Whereas the cost of diesel and that of animal feeds had continued to rise, the producer price for raw milk remains constant.
Representatives of farmers' organisations and livestock breeders say these factors would adversely affect milk production in the country unless urgent measures are taken to enable farmers enhance production.
The Kenya Holstein-Freisian Cattle Society and the Kenya Livestock Breeders Organisation (KLBO) told Business Daily that the country is currently experiencing an acute shortage of quality dairy animals, a situation that has triggered an increase in prices of livestock.
Over the past two months, the price of health dairy cattle has shot up by about 30 per cent.
Mr Christopher Chirchir, the KLBO national chairman, said a grade cow which was retailing at Sh65,000 in December, last year, now costs between Sh85,000 and Sh100,000.
The pedigree cows in intermediate stage cost Sh120,000 while those in appendix stage were retailing at Sh150,000.
Mr Karanja, who owns the Njoro- based Pokea Farm which is one of the leading livestock breeding farms in the country, says the price for a pedigree cow has risen to Sh250,000 from Sh180,000.
Importing the animals is not an alternative as one needs Sh400,000 to buy a quality cow from Zimbabwe.
The high prices of dairy animals had made it difficult for farmers to replace their livestock.
Mr Ng'era, who is one of the top livestock breeders in the country, told the Business Daily that he lost 84 pedigree cows valued at Sh10 million. He said it had taken him over 25 years to breed the herd.
"We are unable to restock due to the enormous cost of purchasing such animals. In any case very few farmers have been breeding quality cows for sale," Mr Ng'era said.
A pedigree cow with a capacity to produce a minimum of 6,000 litres of milk per lactation would be sold for Sh130,000 and a similar amount made from the sale of its offspring within a year.
"This means that dairy farmers have suffered a major economic loss given that not most of the stolen animals were not insured," Mr Ng'era said.
Among top livestock breeders in Nakuru region who lost their animals include Egerton University's Ngongogeri Farm which lost 89 cows and the neighbouring Kisima, Kenana and Deneside Farms which have also been breeding cows for sale.
The university took over 50 years to breed the animals as the farm had been in existence since the colonial days. Most of the dairy cows were stolen and sold for slaughter when violence broke out in various parts of Rift Valley province, said Mr James Karanja, a director of the Kenya Dairy Board.
The loss was a big blow to the country given that it had taken between 20 and 50 years to breed some of the pedigree cows.
Majority of displaced dairy farmers owned land in Burnt Forest and Timboroa in Uasin Gishu district and in Kipkelion, Londiani, Kericho and Koibatek districts.
Other dairy farmers own land in parts of Kuresoi, Mau Narok, Njoro, Likia, Ndeffo and Elburgon in Nakuru and Molo districts-areas that are known for cattle rearing.
The dairy sector players say the government to introduce livestock recovery and breeding programme to assist farmers in case of calamities.
Such a scheme is available in India, one of the leading milk producing countries in the world where livestock owners are compensated whenever they lose their animals due to diseases or any other causes beyond the control of the farmers.
Officials say the government has an obligation to assist dairy farmers restock, as milk is key to the country's food security.
Mr Chirchir said the government is focusing its attention on the plight of maize farmers forgetting that milk production forms a major part of food security in the country, adding that the livestock sub-sector contributes 60 per cent of the total contribution made by the whole of the agricultural sector to the country's gross domestic product (GDP).
"It is totally misplaced for the government to neglect the livestock sub-sector, which has such enormous contribution to the country's GDP and offers employment to a large number of Kenyans," he said.
Use of available technology such as embryo transfer could enable farmers breed more heifers within a short period if the government funds the venture.
Production of more quality heifers is also deemed to substantially lower the cost of the dairy animals hence making them affordable to many small- scale farmers.
Imported embryos
The chairman of the breeders organisation said the government should waive duty and other levies charged on imported embryos and sexed semen to make them available to livestock breeders at affordable cost.
Currently, a dose of sexed semen costs between Sh5,000 and Sh6,000, which is expensive for farmers given the high cost of animal production.
The government can also purchase a herd of pedigree cows from top breeders and use them for the multiplication of embryos for sale to small -scale dairy farmers at affordable price to enable them replace their stock.
"Currently, the cost of imported embryo is in the range of Sh65,000, which is beyond the reach of small scale farmers. Even elite dairy farmers would find it expensive to use the technology on many animals," Mr Chirchir said.
"If the government can agree to keep a herd of 500 pedigree cows in one of the Agricultural Corporation Development farms for use in the multiplication of embryo it would go a long way in the production of heifers in the country."
The government can be able to produce close to 20,000 embryos annually with each animal producing close to 40 embryos within the same period.
"This means that it would take the country less than 10 years to replace the lost animals and also increase the number of quality cows in the country," Mr Chirchir said.
Milk production
Enhancing the breeding of heifers is seen as the only option available for the country as local farmers have no sufficient resources to import pedigree cows from Europe of America as very few countries in Africa rear quality dairy cows.
Kenya's dairy industry is the most advanced in the sub-Saharan region with only South Africa being a few strides ahead.
According to the KBD records, milk production in the country had over the past few months dropped by 20 per cent due to the effects of post election violence.
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