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{
"id": 181372,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/181372/?format=api",
"text_counter": 254,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Dr. Kuti",
"speaker_title": "The Minister for Livestock Development",
"speaker": {
"id": 60,
"legal_name": "Mohammed Abdi Kuti",
"slug": "mohammed-kuti"
},
"content": " Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to move:- THAT this House adopts Sessional Paper No.2 of 2008 on National Livestock Policy laid on the Table of the House on Thursday, 17th July, 2008. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the livestock sector has a great potential which we, as a country, have not managed to tap to its full capacity. The sub-sector contributes, even as ignored as it is, 10 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Livestock is the mainstay of livelihoods for occupants of Arid and Semi Arid Lands (ASALs), which occupy 80 per cent of the land mass in this country. About 90 per cent of the population in ASALs depend on livestock for their income. In high potential areas, dairy production is a source of income to over 600,000 households. During the last five years, the industry has registered an impressive growth in the dairy sector, as manifested by an increase in milk production from 2.8 billion litres in 2002, to over 4.5 billion litres in 2007. In addition, the livestock sub-sector produced over 353,000 tonnes of beef valued at Kshs49.5 billion in 2007. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the rural-based nature of livestock sub-sector makes it a suitable enterprise to create employment in the rural areas, and increase household farming income, which is crucial towards the realisation of macro economic blue print of Vision 2030. The goal of livestock production is to ensure adequate supply of affordable livestock products for the nation, and a surplus for the export market. In order to support livestock production and trade, my Ministry has continued to invest the available resources in livestock disease control and livestock improvement programmes. As a measure to enhance regional and international livestock trade, disease free zones are in the process of being created. That has been identified as one of the flagship projects in Vision 2030. That is expected to enhance economic opportunities for livestock producers among ASAL communities, leading to renewed interest in our livestock and livestock products by investors in Europe, Middle East, Eastern and Southern Africa markets. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, many reforms in the sub-sector have been undertaken without supportive policy framework which, sometimes, leads to conflicting legal mandate that affects operational efficiency in the livestock sub-sector. I wish to bring to the attention of this august House that the current National Livestock Development Policy was developed way back in 1980, and does not adequately address the existing and emerging challenges facing the livestock industry. The challenges of inadequate livestock disease control, market infrastructure, little value addition and un-coordinated market liberalisation has constrained growth in the livestock sub- sector. In addition, inability to meet the international animal health standards due to frequent livestock disease outbreaks and quality requirements has limited access of our livestock and livestock products to the international markets. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the main objectives of the proposed National Livestock Policy are: (a) To conserve and improve the animal genetic resource of this country. (b) To achieve effective control of animal diseases and pests in line with international conventions. (c) Focus research efforts in the livestock sub-sector towards solving the current and emerging problems. (d) Ensure quality standards and quality assurance at all levels of production and marketing chain for increased competitiveness and address issues that are directly responsible for other October 30, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 3201 sectors, but impact on livestock production. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I now wish to briefly update hon. Members on the key challenges, and respective policy proposals to address them. With regard to animal genetic resources, there has not been clear characterisation and documentation to determine the conservation and livestock improvement needs in the country. The breakdown of the past breading schemes has resulted to inadequate production and supply of breeding stock. Just to expound on that, the seed of a Boran bull--- The only place on earth the Boran bull seed is found is Kenya. But because we are not protecting our genes properly, now South Africa is selling and exporting Boran bull gene and making money out of it. That is because we do not have policies in place to regulate that. That puts the country at a risk of losing its vital indigenous livestock resources. The policy proposes to regulate and facilitate documentation and conservation of livestock gene resources and promote the delivery of breeding services through decentralisation and expanding the mandate of the Central Artificial Insemination Services, while retaining the station's strategic public role as an animal gene bank and encouraging more stakeholder involvement in semen production and distribution. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, one of the major challenges in the livestock sub-sector is the control of animal diseases and pests. There has been frequent outbreaks of livestock diseases and poor co-ordination of provision of clinical services. Before the 1980s, this country had a very elaborate system of disease control and the areas were zoned very well. We had an elaborate system in northern areas where animals moved freely and, therefore, control was very difficult. There were holding grounds where animals would be held for four weeks and then moved to disease free zones in the highlands. There were specific stock routes where animals would be moved from diseased areas through the holding grounds to the disease free zones. They would them be transported to local and international markets. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, all that fell apart in the 1980s when the structural adjustment programme squeezed the livestock sector out, and the livestock sector services, extension services and the dips were all privatised. Therefore, disease control has become a major challenge; in actual fact, this Ministry only does \"fire fighting\" when emergencies arise. Regular vaccinations, control of foot and mouth diseases, control of peste des petitis ruminants (PPR), which is a new disease, control of the Rift Valley Fever and other notifiable diseases has become just a matter of \"fire fighting\". When the services were privatised, there was also a freeze on employment. For 20 years, this sector has not employed any staff, yet it is a technical sector that requires highly qualified veterinary doctors, animal health assistants, extension workers and so on. For 20 years, there has been a freeze on employment and purchase of vehicles. Vehicles are essential for surveillance of diseases. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, there was reduced budget and funding and, therefore, the laboratories that were used for surveillance and diagnosis almost collapsed. This affected the quality of livestock products and disease control was non-existent. This resulted in the country being branded by the World Animal Health Organization (WAHO) \"a disease country\" and, therefore, livestock products from Kenya could not access any markets other than the local markets. So, all the international markets were closed to us, because we failed to put into place policies, practises and programmes that could control diseases effectively for us to be able to access international markets. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, regarding the challenge of livestock feeds and nutrition, the policy notes that livestock feeds account for between 60 per cent and 80 per cent of the total production cost, depending on the intensity of production, thereby reducing the earnings of the livestock producers. Further, the standardisation of some seeds and feed ingredients is not complete and there are challenges of meeting the quality standards by some feed manufacturers. 3202 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES October 30, 2008 The grazing animals on the other hand, go through periods of feed scarcity occasioned by dry seasons and droughts. The proposed measures to address these challenges include mitigating against the high cost of livestock feeds by encouraging co-operatives and farmer groups to engage in manufacturing own feeds while diversifying the feeds base. The policy also proposes to put in place the necessary institutional framework to ensure quality feed production and further create initiatives for drought preparedness and recovery to secure animals and humans during periods of drought. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir,many challenges exist in the marketing and value addition of our livestock and livestock products. Poor market infrastructure, marketing distribution systems and inadequate market information continue to plague the livestock sub-sector. In addition, the high cost of equipment, limited technology and skilled manpower at the local level has slowed down the pace of value addition. To address these challenges, the policy proposes to strengthen producer marketing groups and encourage their advancement to value addition and processing. The Government will also divest from the Kenya Meat Commission (KMC) to bring on board livestock producers along the current public asset privatisation programme. It further advocates for collaboration with relevant stakeholders in developing adequate market infrastructure in addition to creating mechanisms and leakages for more local and international market information. The policy also calls for more public and private sector financing of livestock activities. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the policy notes the potential impact of international trade rules in the sub-sector. In this regard, the policy recognises the need to categorise livestock and livestock products as special products based on criteria of food and livelihood security and rural development. Research and extension are critical for livestock development. The current institutional arrangement places livestock research under the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI), and it is not under the mandate of the Ministry in charge of livestock development. While universities and other private livestock research institutions operate under different research mandates, these, coupled with lack of comprehensive extension messages, and the absence of formal collaboration by extension service providers, has been a major challenge to livestock research development in this country. In view of this, the policy proposes the establishment of the Kenya Livestock Research Institute as an umbrella institution to carry out livestock research in combating all the livestock diseases. The policy also provides for collaboration with private extension service providers to develop dynamic and comprehensive extension services. The concept of food security in this country has traditionally been equated with the availability of cereals, and this is a very important issue to be noted. This definition excludes livestock products such as beef and milk. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, there has been insufficient preparation for the management of drought and its related effects. To address this situation, the policy proposes the expansion of the definition of \"food security\" to include livestock products, particularly milk and beef. If you process meat and can it, it can remain fit for consumption for five years while powder milk will be good for two years. Instead of buying yellow maize for rural, or communities living in Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs), it is important that when we use the drought monitoring indicators, and there are indicators showing an oncoming drought it would be important to off-take livestock, process them into canned meat and store it. When the drought actually comes, those animals that would have been wiped out, will already have been stored in cans and then the canned beef will then be supplied to the communities at risk. Since it is their speciality, they will like it better than the yellow maize. In fact, instead of consuming yellow maize, they sometimes use it to feed their animals and make them survive. That also applies to powder milk. Therefore, this policy further acknowledges the need to strengthen and institutionalise the early warning systems in order to mitigate the effects of disasters that affect the livestock sub-sector. October 30, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 3203 Regarding the institutional and legal framework, the policy proposes the formation of a Kenya Livestock Marketing Board to promote market research and development in and out of the country. The establishment of the Kenya Livestock Inspectorate Board is proposed to ensure that livestock products for local and international markets meet the standard for safe human consumption. In addition, an Animal Feeds Inspectorate Service will be established to ensure that seed quality standards are set and met. Further, the Kenya Livestock Breeding Board will be set up to co-ordinate and regulate all breeding activities and give direction on breeding strategies. In conclusion, I now wish to request this House to consider and approve Sessional Paper No.2 of 2008 on the National Livestock Policy. With those few remarks, I beg to move, and request hon. I.E. Mohamed to second the Motion."
}