Taita Taveta ranchers eye Indonesia meat market

Ranchers in Taita Taveta county will be incorporated in a deal to explore the Indonesian beef market, the State Department of Livestock has promised.

Kenya is expected to export 50,000 heads of cattle annually to the Asian country.

Livestock Production director Elmi Bishar said hundreds of herders and small scale livestock keepers will benefit from the lucrative export business as part of the government's plan to grow the economy.

The deal, Bishar said, will require minimum live weight for each cattle to be 350kg and will be sold at $2.8 per kilo.

The new export market is set to spur an increase in livestock production in the region considered to be a disease-free zone.

It will further help farmers alleviate poverty and make the county a hub of red beef farming in Kenya.

The director asked livestock keepers to increase production ahead of the maiden export.

He said if the potential is fully realised, livestock production shall offer self-employment to hundreds of jobless youth in the area.

He spoke while hosting a delegation of agriculture officials from Taita Taveta at his Nairobi office.

He said that there is opportunity in the livestock sector in regards to manufacturing, leather and value addition following the ban on importation of leather related materials.

“Recently, the President issued a directive to ban importation of leather related materials for the next two years. Let’s take advantage and harness the livestock subsector in line with the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda,” Bishir said.

The beef, sheep and goats value chain sector currently contributes at least 12 per cent of the country’s GDP and 45 per cent of the agriculture GDP.

Bishar said a special delegation from the national government led by Principal Secretary Jonathan Mueke will visit the county to ascertain its potential ahead of the Indonesian visit to Kenya in July.

County Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Irrigation CEC Erickson Kyongo said the export market will not only grow the county’s economy but also create jobs.

He said the county’s proximity to the port of Mombasa places it as an ideal place for the livestock export market.

Kyongo said the county is currently exporting about 600 heads of cattle monthly, leaving the export market with a deficit.

“There are still huge opportunities in the beef export market. We are welcoming the national government to help our farmers tap the international market opportunities,” Kyongo said during the Thursday meeting.

The executive further asked the national to assist the county construct a modern abattoir to aid promoting value addition.

Promoting value addition, Kyongo said, will create job opportunities and promote local products to the Kenyan market.

He said the county livestock production department is currently partnering with SNV, a Netherlands based organization to produce pasture in more than 200 acres at Kasighau, Mgeno and Lualenyi ranches.

“We have also partnered with the Food and Agriculture organization (FAO) to support farmers with pasture seeds where we have successfully distributed over 14 tones so far,” he added.

Kyongo said the county has intensified disease surveillance measures to help control disease outbreaks as result of livestock influx during drought seasons.

Ranchers in the county have been fighting for a sustainable export market.

The county boasts a total of 30 vast rangelands spread across 900,000 acres of land that also serve as critical wildlife dispersal and migratory corridors.

The disease free zone-county also plays host to the 15,000-acre Bachuma Livestock Export Processing Zone (LEPZ) thus placing it at a better place for livestock fattening and export.

However, rangers are yet to benefit from the multimillion Bachuma project which is one of the government’s flagship projects for it has stalled for years.

The LEPZ project has not taken off since it was started in 2015.