President William Ruto has ordered the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development to immediately start registering pastoralist-owned investment companies as part of a new livestock financing and value addition programme aimed at reshaping the Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASAL) economy. The plan is designed to place pastoralist communities at the centre of livestock production, financing, and trade while expanding their access to markets, credit, and insurance services.
Speaking in Wajir County during the Madaraka Day celebrations, the President said the registration process will be carried out across all 21 ASAL counties in partnership with county governments.
“I have directed the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, in partnership with county governments, to begin immediate registration of these companies across all the 21 ASAL counties,” he said.
President William Ruto and Deputy President Kithure Kindiki lead the 63rd Madaraka Day Celebrations at Wajir Stadium, Wajir County, on Monday, June 1, 2026. PHOTO/DPCS
Under the programme, the government will roll out a Sh5 billion County Livestock Investment Company initiative that will target more than 350,000 pastoralists. The model is expected to allow communities to formally own and run livestock-based enterprises, with an estimated reach of over two million household members in the first phase.
The President also announced the creation of a Livestock Enterprise Development Fund, alongside plans to establish a national strategic food reserve. He further said cooperatives will be strengthened and a livestock identification and traceability system introduced to improve management and market access.
President William Ruto and Deputy President Kithure Kindiki led the 63rd Madaraka Day celebrations at Wajir Stadium in Wajir County on Monday, June 1, 2026.
He also outlined additional investments in feedlots, vaccination drives, drought response measures, and expansion of livestock markets and infrastructure across northern Kenya.
“We must move beyond live animal sales to higher value products such as meat, leather and dairy,” Ruto said, adding that livestock should be treated as a commercial asset rather than subsistence.
“For long, many looked at livestock and saw subsistence. We look at livestock and see enterprise, we see exports, we see jobs, we see wealth,” he added.
He noted that livestock remains a key pillar of the national economy, contributing about 12 per cent of GDP and 42 per cent of agricultural GDP in ASAL counties.
According to him, the sector supports more than 90 per cent of employment and over 95 per cent of household incomes in the region.
The President further highlighted ongoing efforts in animal health and productivity, including vaccination of over 10 million livestock and expansion of feed and breeding systems in northern Kenya.
He said the reforms are part of a wider plan to bring historically marginalised regions into the national development agenda, insisting that development must reach all parts of the country.
“No county is too remote to deserve investment, and no citizen is too distant to deserve dignity.”
Ruto also described northern Kenya as central to the country’s economic future, pointing to livestock production, trade corridors, and access to regional markets.
“Northern Kenya is not peripheral to that vision. It is central to it,” he said.