Waiguru boosts local animal feeds makers

Members of the ACK Thaita Men's Welfare Group at the animal feeds manufacturing plant in Kirinyaga Central Constituency. PHOTO/Courtesy.

A farmers group in Kirinyaga is reaping from manufacturing animal feeds after they got support from the county government.

Members of ACK Thaita Men’s Welfare Group in Kirinyaga Central constituency said Governor Anne Waiguru’s initiative has seen their dreams come true.

The group has been using equipment given by the county government to make dairy feeds for their own livestock.

They also sell the surplus to other farmers in the area.

The initiative is one of Waiguru’s Wezesha Kirinyaga economic empowerment program.

It is transforming lives of the local community through various agriculture value chain projects.

The welfare group was provided with animal feeds, manufacturing plant and equipment.

This has gone a long way in empowering the members economically.

The welfare started as a table banking group.

It has seen members grow their incomes from improved milk production.

This is so because they can now access affordable and high quality dairy meal.

Gilbert Muriithi, the host farmer in whose homestead the feeds mixer was installed says that before they were given the machine, they grappled with low milk production.

At the time, feeds bought from other commercial dealers had compromised quality.

To address the challenge, they aspired to manufacture their own feeds.

“When we started mixing our own feeds, we bought raw materials and used hands and shovels to mix them.

The process was both tedious and slow,” Muriithi said.

Another member Julius Muriithi said that even though they knew that they required a better machine, it was too costly and beyond their reach.

“We wrote a proposal to the county government to be provided with the machine and within no time our it was accepted and this is how we started,” he added.

The group is among those supported by the county government to increase agricultural production.

Speaking at the Kenya Animal Genetic Resources Center (KAGRC) in Kutus, Governor Waiguru said that her administration has been supporting dairy farmers to produce quality feeds for their animals.

Her administration is also helping them to upgrade their dairy cattle breeds through provision of quality artificial insemination services.

The county aims at increasing milk production from the current average of five liters per cow per day to 12 liters per cow per day.

“As part of our Wezesha Kirinyaga Economic Empowerment Program, we are supporting farmers to increase their incomes and improve their living standards,” she said.

She added that her administration has so far supported 473 farmers groups across the county through the National Agricultural Rural Inclusive Growth Program (NARIGP).

Apart from dairy farmers, other groups supported are involved in poultry, tomato, avocado, fish, pig and bee farming.

Waiguru said that through the program, farmers have been supported to diversify on agricultural production.

This shields them from over reliance on specific crop/animal production.

Previous articleChild immunization against measles, rubella underway in Kenya
Next articleMEDIA REVIEW: What bleeds no longer leads
The Scholar Media Digital presents you with up-to-date news, educational reporting, and special features, county, national, continental, and global news which are exclusive, factual, timely, and insightful.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.