Feed millers stare at shortage as soybean prices surge by over Sh15

Soybean prices have gone up by more than Sh15 since March.

A kilo of soybean which was selling at Sh97, is now selling at Sh115.

The Association of Kenya Feed Manufacturers (Akefema)attributed the surge to a global shortage.

Soybean remains the most important and preferred source of high quality vegetable protein for animal feed manufacturers.

Last month, Livestock PS Jonathan Mueke urged farmers to start producing soybean and sunflower to provide millers with raw material.

He said the shortage of raw materials is a major obstacle to the growth of the animal feed sector.

Mueke said there is a need for concerted efforts to boost local production to ensure a steady supply of raw materials.

Some farmers in Western, Nyanza and Eastern have embraced sunflower and soya bean farming.

“In Mt Kenya and Western they are growing sunflowers while in Migori county, they are growing soybeans. If the local production of these raw materials is sustainable, we may start seeing a drop in the cost of feed in a few years' time. We have a ready market and this should motivate farmers to produce more of these raw materials,” said Mueke.

Akefema CEO Paul Kamau told the Star that Zambia and Malawi, which are traditional sources of soybean for Kenya, are no longer exporting.

“Uganda is the other alternative but their harvest was not good hence not enough to sustain the high demand,” he said.

“We are now left with India and Ethiopia. Produce from Ethiopia will hit the market soon despite the fact that Zambia is a higher producer than Ethiopia. However, there are challenges involved in bringing the raw material from the two countries. Shipping the raw materials down here is a bit expensive."

Kamau said they are seeking for an extension of waiver on importation of the raw materials.

This will help millers not transfer the cost to the farmers. 

In January last year, Akefema requested the government to give an extension of duty waiver on raw materials to make animal feeds.

These raw materials include yellow maize, soya beans meals and vitamin premixes.

The request was granted and an extension was allowed through a gazette notice issued on August 11 last year. The notice allowed an extension of duty waiver until February.

But despite the extension of the duty waiver, prices of animal feeds remained high due to scarcity of maize.

Millers could not access maize from the traditional regional import markets like Zambia, Uganda and Tanzania.

During this time, the cost  of soybean also shot up from Sh75 per kg to Sh100, affecting the price of animal feed.

Currently, a 70kg bag of most of the different types of feed meals sells at between Sh3,500 and Sh4,500.

“It is important that the government gives the industrial support as we build our own capacity to produce some of these raw materials,” he said.

Kiambu Poultry Farmers Cooperative Society chairperson Zachary Munyambu attributed the high production costs to the scarcity and rising prices of raw materials for animal feed.

Munyambu who is also a poultry farmer from Ngoigwa in Thika, Kiambu county, said fish meal, another rich protein source, is inadequate and often contaminated with aflatoxin.

“The alternative source, omena, has also become hard to get. We are now relying on artificial protein from countries such as China. The price of maize germ has also increased, selling at Sh29 to Sh30 per kilo from Sh23 to Sh24. An increment of Sh5 per kilo means a lot to a farmer,” he said. 

This has pushed feed prices up, with a 50kg bag of chick mash selling at Sh4,200, layers mash at Sh3,800, growers mash at Sh3,400 and kienyeji mash at Sh2,600.

He urged the government to allow the importation of genetically modified maize and yellow maize for animal feed production.

This, he said, will go a long way in reducing pressure on white maize and reserve it for human consumption.

“We should also work towards producing our own soybean and sunflower for feed milling. We have the land for soy and sunflower, yet we import the raw materials. We need to produce our own raw materials so that Kenyan poultry, pig and dairy farmers can be competitive,” Munyambu said.