Turkana university college teamed up with the county livestock department to deworm and trim sheep and goats’ hooves as part of their initiative to support livestock farmers in Turkana central sub county.
The varsity acting principal Prof. George Chemining’wa also led the university staff in planting 220 tree seedlings donated by Kenya Forest Research Institute, Lodwar office.
Prof. Cheminingw’a said apart from running the academic programmes the university also impacts the society around the campus, hence the decision to partner with the county livestock department to improve livestock productivity.
“As a university we shall continue to support the community to improve the livestock productivity because most residents are pastoralists and depend on livestock keeping for their livelihoods,” he said.
The Ag. Principal added that the university will be holding the activity every year and scale it up to benefit not only Turkana central sub county residents but other sub counties as well.
He added that the university will plant more trees with the help of KEFRI and also train famers how to plant their trees in their compounds for environmental conservation.
The varsity’s dean school of science and Technology Dr. Peter Edome said livestock management is a core activity of the university because of the pastoral economy which generates revenue for the county residents.
“We were targeting 300 livestock in today’s exercise but next financial year we shall be targeting 1,000 livestock,’ said Dr. Edome.
He said the university and professionals from the livestock department will continue to work together to disseminate knowledge to the community on how to manage livestock diseases for more livestock productivity.
KEFRI assistant scientist Basil Kaudo said the institute in line with its mission of conducting research had partnered with the university to plant 220 tree seedlings of various tree species.
By Peter Gitonga
