The Government and International partners have invested Sh 9.46 billion to support 110,000 rural small-scale farmer households to boost livestock production and increase their incomes in 10 counties across the country.
The six-year project, being implemented by the Kenya Livestock Commercialisation Project (KeLCoP), is supported with funding from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and Heifer International.
While speaking in Kakamega during a validation visit, KeLCoP National Project Coordinator Prof. Moses Kembe said the project focuses on four value chains: rearing indigenous poultry, beekeeping, sheep farming, and dairy and goat meat production.
He said the project is providing productive employment and food security opportunities for women, youth and marginalized segments of the population who keep small ruminants (sheep, goats for meat and dairy goats) and locally improved chicken and beekeeping.
“The project is focusing on improving opportunities for the rural poor to enable them to increase their output by starting the commercialisation of their livestock,” he said.
The project covers Kakamega, Bungoma, Elgeyo Marakwet, Baringo, Marsabit, Samburu, Busia, Siaya, Nakuru and Trans Nzoia.
The aim is to contribute to the government’s Agricultural Transformation Agenda by increasing incomes for rural small-scale farmers and improving nutrition and food security.
In Kakamega, the project is supporting 18,844 small-scale livestock households, especially youth and women, in four small livestock commercialisation areas in Lugari (Lumakanda), Shinyalu (Isukha Central), Khwisero (Kisa Central) and Butere (Marama Central) in Kakamega County.
He said the project is expected to come to an end in September 2027.
By George Kaiga
