This archive report was first published on 11 January 2020.
Published on January 11, 2020, by DR JOSEPH MUGACHIA, a renowned expert in animal farming.
As a veterinarian, I have noticed a surge in enquiries from farmers seeking advice on profitable livestock farming. The year started off well, with many farmers looking to establish agribusinesses and make farming profitable.
For ease of discussion, I categorized the enquiries into three groups: small-scale, medium-scale, and large-scale farmers. Small-scale farmers, with less than 20 dairy and 50 beef cattle, less than 100 sheep and goats, or less than 20 breeding pigs, were primarily concerned with home consumption and some level of profit.
However, I always advise farmers to work hard and leave this category, as they often lose money made in other ventures. Medium-scale farmers, with up to 100 dairy and 200 beef cattle, 500 sheep and goats, or 100 breeding pigs, were interested in making decent profits from farming.
Large-scale enquiries, on the other hand, had a unique interest – creating big enduring food enterprises and jobs. A majority of the enquirers in this category were late middle age or elderly people, possibly thinking about their legacies.
One such farmer, from Kiambu, plans to expand his egg production from 3,000 to 100,000 birds in two years. His plan is to increase to 10,000, then 40,000 in the next six months.
As we reviewed the general technical experts required to scale his egg production, he appreciated the diversity of the expertise needed. Veterinary and environmental experts would be required to ensure disease control and environmental protection, while architects and engineers would ensure that design, construction, and equipment installation are done appropriately.
Food technology specialists would be required to advise and set up egg handling and storage facilities, as well as value addition. Many farmers are not aware that eggs can be converted into value-added products, such as powder, low cholesterol yolkless eggs, and shell-less eggs.
Finally, there is the expertise for farm administration, marketing, and sales. In short, discussion with this farmer brings out the vital role of a layer farm enterprise in food supply and creating employment.
By the time he expands to 100,000 layers, he will be an industry contributing to food safety and security, as well as large-scale employment in a number of fields. Profitable livestock venture also promotes the growth of crop agriculture, agricultural processing, and the manufacture of machines and tools.
