By Violet Grade
Livestock continues to be a vital component of sub-Saharan Africa’s economic growth as the region moves toward agribusiness. Taking this into consideration, Ripple Effect has teamed up with ALPHA Plus to help Kenyan farmers become more resilient against livestock diseases and get more out of their investments.
Speaking in Bungoma following a farmers’ training session, Dr. Peterkin Nzomo, a consultant at Zoetis—a company collaborating with Ripple Effect to enhance veterinary officers’ service delivery in Western Kenya—stated that many farmers are still negatively impacted by a lack of expert support.
“We only want to outfit veterinary officers and encourage our farmers to use them so they can prevent losses, thus we are concentrating on poultry and ruminants, where the majority of farmers invest,” Nzomo stated.
He claims that the focus on biosecurity stems from the fact that most farmers launch their businesses only to lose money as a result of inadequate advice.
“This puts focus on preventing entry of diseases into their farms, it entails vaccination, restriction of access and mixing of livestock and fight against rodents which bring in infections especially to poultry,” he stated.
Dr. Wechabe Simiyu, the Bungoma County veterinary officer, echoed his thoughts, hailing the scheme as a boon to farmers in the 45 wards that will improve productivity and farmer services.
He lists the primary poultry diseases as gumboro, Newcastle, and chicken pox, whereas the primary cow diseases are still foot and mouth, lumpy skin, and black quarter.
Wechabe claims that their officers would be able to detect infections and create appropriate connections with farmers using Ripple Effect and Zoetis, enabling them to provide sufficient services.
“We want to also sensitize our farmers to utilize sub county veterinary offices to safeguard the good health of their livestock,” he stated.
Wechabe continues, saying that they anticipate stepping up service delivery and that the current extended services are driven by customer demand.
Ripple Effect’s partner support manager and programs According to Alfred Juma, the organization collaborates with governmental and non-governmental organizations to support improved farming production, food security, and nutrition, as well as lower farmer poverty rates.
According to him, the group also emphasizes climate resilience and mitigation strategies by educating and raising farmer awareness of best practices and helping them make the most of their fields. According to him, the program’s goal is to guarantee farmers receive KSH 300 minimum revenue each day from the sale of their livestock’s high-quality meat, eggs, and milk.
“The bottom-line will be increased expert knowledge that will lead to reduced cost of production high yields and an end to poverty,” he stated. It ought to be mentioned
It should be mentioned that one of Kenya’s main food baskets is Bungoma. During the training session, which included farmers from all nine Sub-Counties.
