This archive report was first published on 30 August 2021.
Kenya's livestock sector is on the brink of collapse due to an unprecedented increase in animal feed prices, which has led to the closure of livestock farming enterprises and feed mills, resulting in job losses.
The Association of Kenya Animal Feeds Manufacturers (AKEFEMA) has raised concerns over the crisis, which has seen the price of soybean meal increase from Sh70 to Sh130 in the last two months.
AKEFEMA Secretary General Martin Kinoti said that Kenya depends heavily on imports from neighboring countries for oil cakes, but due to the effects of adverse weather and the COVID-19 pandemic, supplies have been decreasing, and prices rising sharply.
According to Kinoti, the price of a 70 kg bag of dairy meal has gone up from Sh2000 to Sh2,350 in the last two months, while raw materials have increased by almost 65 per cent, and feed prices have gone up by an average of 20 per cent.
AKEFEMA has urged the government to review a cabinet memo of 2012 that banned GM foods and allow the importation of GM materials, specifically soybean meal and yellow maize, to improve the landing prices of raw materials and reduce local feed prices.
Chairman Joseph Karuri said that pig feeds have experienced a similar price hike, with raw materials increasing by 65 per cent in the last three months, and feed prices going up by an average of 20 per cent.
Dr. Sharon Tsigadi, General Manager at Farmers Choice, said that pig production costs have increased by 30 to 40 per cent, leading to higher pork prices and small-scale farmers opting out of pig farming.
The livestock sub-sector in Kenya has been losing competitiveness to neighboring countries, such as Tanzania and Uganda, mainly due to their low cost of livestock products.
According to Dr. Tsigadi, the current production cost in Kenya of a tray of eggs is about Sh260 per kilogram, compared to Uganda's Sh220, due to Kenya's reliance on Uganda for raw materials for feed production.
