Kenya rolls out digital livestock vaccination drive to boost production of meat, other products

KENYA – Livestock keepers in Taita Taveta County are now participating in a digital vaccination programme designed to improve disease management and service delivery in the dairy value chain.

The effort is being carried out under the National Agricultural Value Chain Development Project (NAVCDP), which is introducing an electronic voucher system to support the vaccination rollout.

The e-platform links farmer cooperatives to veterinary professionals, vaccine manufacturers, and development partners such as Safaricom and Mifugo 360 to streamline operations at the local level.

Katuu Mzenge, who heads the county’s Agriculture, Livestock, Irrigation and Cooperative Development docket, said that rapid implementation was necessary to reach more farmers and expand the programme’s coverage.

Chief Livestock Officer Habibu Mruttu described the intervention as a necessary response to longstanding constraints within his department, particularly in managing livestock diseases.

At the same time, Chief Agriculture Officer Mcharo Mwalugha urged ward leaders to engage their cooperative groups, calling them key to making services accessible under the government’s Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA).

According to NAVCDP County Coordinator Andrew Mbinga, the campaign is also intended to promote economic self-sufficiency by reducing dependency on aid and shifting focus to commercial agriculture.

The wider livestock industry in Kenya remains a central part of the economy, contributing around 12 percent to the national gross domestic product and supporting the livelihoods of about 10 million people.

Kenya’s meat, livestock outlook

Kenya’s herd includes 18.8 million cattle, 26.7 million goats, 18.9 million sheep, 3.2 million camels and over 44 million poultry birds.

Beef, mostly produced in arid and semi-arid regions, continues to be a significant source of household income and food security.

Poultry farming has also remained steady, with about 43.8 million chickens producing more than 35,000 tonnes of meat and 1.6 billion eggs every year.

In 2023, Kenya produced 556,653 metric tonnes of meat worth approximately US$2 billion (KSh304.6 billion), a rise from 464,512 metric tonnes valued at about US$1.6 billion (KSh240.7 billion) in 2022.

Current estimates show that average annual meat consumption per person in the country is 15.6 kilograms, including both local production and imports.

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