The government is planning to establish strategic reserves for animal feeds and expand hay storage facilities as it moves to address recurring fodder shortages, reduce wastage and lower the cost of livestock production.
Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe said the plan would be implemented in partnership with county governments, which would help establish functional feedlots and identify suitable locations for storing hay and other fodder during periods of high production.
Speaking in the Senate on Wednesday, Kagwe said previous efforts to create fodder reserves had not provided farmers with adequate support, with some facilities described as feedlots lacking basic needs such as water and pasture.
“A feedlot that has got no water, a feedlot that has got no pasture, a feedlot that has got no aid is not actually essentially a feedlot,” he said.
The CS said the government was now working with counties through the Feed System Resilience Programme (FSRP) to improve the country's feed storage and livestock support systems.
He cited Isiolo as one of the counties where the need for additional storage facilities had become clear, saying the existing capacity was not enough to meet demand.
“We are working with the county governments of Isiolo and others to identify and build areas where we can store hay in times of overproduction,” he said.
Kagwe said the government was also considering the creation of strategic reserves for animal feeds, similar to the reserves maintained for human food.
He said such reserves would allow feed to be stored when supplies are high and released when farmers face shortages.
“I have proposed, Mr Speaker, that the same way we keep human food reserves in strategic reserves for human feeds, we also create strategic reserves for animal feeds,” he said.
The government is also encouraging farmers to increase production of yellow maize and fodder on both public and privately owned land to improve the supply of livestock feeds.
“There is nothing to stop any Kenyan from growing yellow maize, and in fact, we are looking for them, we are urging them to plant yellow maize,” Kagwe said.
According to the CS, increased yellow maize production would help reduce competition between people and livestock for white maize, which is widely used as human food.
He also said greater involvement of the private sector in Agricultural Development Corporation (ADC) farms would provide more land for feed production.
Kagwe linked the feed strategy to plans to strengthen agricultural extension services, saying the government had proposed about 1,450 grassroots liaison officers to improve coordination between national and county governments.
He said extension officers would also receive training on modern livestock feeding methods, including total mixed ration (TMR).
Kagwe said the approach had already helped farmers in some areas cut production costs while increasing milk yields.
The government's plans come as milk deliveries to processors continue to fall, with officials partly linking the decline to inadequate fodder following poor rainfall.
Livestock Development Principal Secretary Jonathan Mueke said formal milk deliveries to processors dropped from 84.4 million litres in June to 81.3 million litres in July.
He added that preliminary figures showed supplies declined further in August.
Mueke attributed the decline mainly to reduced availability of animal feed.
“The real issue is fodder pressure due to lack of rain,” he said.
To ease the pressure, the government has also authorised duty-free imports of yellow maize for animal-feed manufacturers as part of efforts to increase feed supplies and control production costs.