Kenya Livestock

Intro to Livestock

September 30, 2010

Livestock Production in Kenya

In Kenya the livestock market is ruled by small producers due to its still developing state. Agriculture is the main trade in Kenya, and livestock is most heavily concentrated in arid and semi arid lands due to its vast size over Kenya – almost 75% percent of the land is dry. Over ninety percent of employment and income results from Kenya’s livestock production.

Values expressed in 1,000

Species	Year				Annual Growth Rate %
	1980	1990	2000	2002	1980-1990	1990-2002
Cattle	10,000	13,793	11,706	11,500	3.3	-1.6
Sheep/Goat	13,000	19,236	17,944	18,660	4.0	-0.7
Pigs	74	128	311	332	5.6	9.3
Poultry	16,400	25,228	26,291	27,902	4.4	0.4
Total LUs	6,479	9,098	7,973	7,961	3.5	-1.3

LU: Livestock Unit; conversion factors: cattle (0.50), sheep and goats (0.10), pigs (0.20), and poultry (0.01)

Source: http://www.fao.org/ag/againfo/resources/en/publications/sector_briefs/lsb_KEN.pdf

Kenya’s largest production lies in their cattle. In 1980 Kenya went from 1,925,000 metric tonnes of beef production to 2,950,000 metric tonnes in 2002. This largely outweighs their egg production, which was a mere 197,000 in 1980, and 607,000 in 2002. Beef is nearly 75% of all of Kenya’s total meat production market. On average Kenya’s cattle would weigh in159.1 kg in 2002, and 16.1% were slaughtered. The milk yield from Kenya’s cattle in the year of 2002 was 672 kg, and only 34.8% were milked.

The main feed for Kenya’s livestock is Brans (with 3,065,000 metric tonnes in 2002), followed by maize (80,000 metric tonnes), sorghum (72,000 metric tonnes) and finally millet (36,000 metric tonnes). Data on other types of feed is not available.

However, milk has been the fastest growing trends in annual per capita. Milk went well over 100 kg per capita per year in 1990, however it has come down to 90 kg since 2002. The per capita livestock production and productivity have been at stalemate in recent years due to several causes.

“1) Per capita governance in key agricultural institutions, particularly the cooperative sector, and lack of comprehensive legal framework to guide formulation of consistent polices; 2) lack of capacity by the private sector to take over functions previously performed by the state, incomplete markets and weak marketing systems; 3) poor of insecure access to land and to farm credit, high cost of farm inputs, and heavy taxation of farmers through local authority taxes and other levies; 4) high prevalence of HIV/AIDS affecting agricultural productivity; 5) low level of public funding and inefficient use of public resources resulting in inadequate and inefficient rural infrastructure; 6) inappropriate technology and inadequate funding for research and extension services.”

Kenya does require health clearance certificates for the trade of all animals. Animals intended for exports are held for 21 days and are routinely checked by veterinarians from the country the animal is to be shipped to, and sometimes a Kenyan veterinarian.

Overall Kenya is quickly growing agriculturally and is finding a good market in their cattle production. Because of Kenya’s still developing state, they lack several conveniences that developed worlds may harbor.

Sources: http://www.fao.org/ag/againfo/resources/en/publications/sector_briefs/lsb_KEN.pdf