September 29, 2010

Kenyan poultry farmers push for more income

The Kenya Poultry Association is lobbying the government to put in place a new policy that will increase farmers' income from egg production.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), it is estimated that the country's per capita poultry consumption stands at 36 eggs per person per annum which is way below that of developed countries.

Poultry's sub-sector contributes an estimated 1.7% of the livestock sectors GDP where 21 million people rely on poultry farming for their livelihood.

According to the association, Kenya produces 1.2 billion eggs per year. This production supplies 100% of the demand for eggs within the country. The association says the cost of egg production in the country ranges between two billion shillings to a high of 4.1 billion when the cost of inputs is high.

Poultry farming uptake has boomed in Kenya's rural areas where smallholder families have taken to the product over the past 10 years.

There are approximately 30 million birds in Kenya, of which 76% are free-range indigenous chicken, 14% are commercial layers, and 8% broilers. The remaining 2% is made up of duck, turkey, quail and other birds.

According to the reports, farmers produced 22,000 tonnes of chicken in 2006, compared with 23,000 tonnes in 2009. Production hit a high of 24,000 tonnes in 2008.

Meanwhile, egg production rose to a high of 89,000 tonnes in 2008, falling to a four-year low of 81,000 tonnes in 2009.