Kenya is eying enhanced earnings from the livestock sector through the livestock master plan currently being developed by the ministry of agriculture.
Speaking at the Veterinary Workforce Development Conference in Nairobi, Livestock Policy Research and Regulations Director at State Department of Livestock Dr. Christopher Wanga, through the plan, the government is keen on expanding veterinary services across the country to improve animal health in order to ensure access to wider markets for Kenya’s livestock and livestock products.
“We rely heavily on veterinary services to transform the livestock sector. We have targets to achieve, doubling our milk production, increasing revenue from leather and leather products from the current Ksh 17 billion Ksh 100 billion meeting the international and local demand of our meet and veterinary services are critical in offering disease control, food safety and the diagnostic services for the livestock sector,” said Dr Wanga.
Official statistics indicate that Kenya earned a total of Ksh 190.5 billion last year from livestock and livestock products which is a growth from Ksh 153.8 billion reported the previous year. Earnings from cattle, calve, goats and sheep accounted for more than three quarters of earnings at Ksh 126.8 billion.
In a bid to further improve animal health, the government plans to kick off a nationwide vaccination exercise targeting 22 million cattle and 55 million sheep and goats.
“Outbreaks of foot and mouth disease will never allow our farmers to sell the livestock and livestock products out of this country. Worst still is even Kenyan law does not allow moving sick animals and this is where I want to urge the public to ignore any negative sentiments and focus on developing these livestock resources which require concerted effort from governments, leaders, stakeholders but most importantly animal owners,” said Dr Wanga.
The World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) called for increased capacity building for veterinary professionals to help address extension challenges especially among small scale livestock keepers in Africa.
“We are extremely conscious of the importance of having strong veterinary services especially with the young workforce in Africa. WOAH is a standard setting organization for animal health and also for quality of veterinary services and we are fully conscious that not matter if you have good vaccines, good equipment and so on, nothing is possible without the strong workforce in the field,” noted Dr Francois Caya, WOAH Deputy Director.
According to the State Department of Livestock, Kenya currently produces 100 veterinarians and 800 veterinary technicians which private sector has been urged to utilize in order to support the development of livestock sector.
The two day conference brings together at least 175 veterinary professionals from 36 African countries to address issues affecting veterinary workforce development in the continent.
