Livestock
Narok County Government has launched Animal Feeds Strategy 2024-2034 that is meant to improve livestock production and boost the livelihood of the pastoralist community.
The County Deputy Governor Tamalinye Koech, who witnessed the launch of the strategy called on farmers to form groups so as to benefit from free training, seeds and other farm inputs to improve their production.
He said the county government is partnering with SNV Netherlands organization to support farmers to adapt to climate-resilient agricultural practices for increased production. “We are urging our farmers to register in groups so that they can get free training and farm inputs because it is difficult to train a single farmer,” said the deputy governor.
SNV Project Manager Julius Rono said the programme kicked off three years ago in Narok county and has already caused some impact in boosting livelihoods. “Improvement in terms of livestock production has a direct impact on livelihoods. Women have come with testimonies of how the program has impacted them,” he said.
Launch of Narok County Animal Feeds Strategy 2024-2034 held at a local hotel.
Narok Executive Member in Charge of Agriculture and Livestock Ms Joyce Keshe said the county has partnered with SNV to ensure the pastoralists community is not affected by drought. She added that her department has discovered 21 varieties of forage that are good for livestock in the county, which they are training organized groups on how to grow and benefit from the forage.
Ms Keshe reiterated that different forage is suitable for different areas as the county has different climatic zones. However, the CECM lamented that despite the increase in milk production, the farmers are still not getting value for their efforts because of many middlemen who buy their milk at a throw away price.
“One thing that is coming out clearly from our farmers is that they do not have a ready market to sell their milk. They sell their milk to middle men at Sh30 per litre who later sells it in Narok town at Sh70,” she observed.
In a bid to end this trend, Ms Keshe said the farmers’ groups are being trained on value addition of their products so that they can fetch more money.