Do you know a prisoner is legally entitled to at least 115g of meat per serving for three days a week?
This translates to 345g, which when summed up in a year of 52 weeks comes to at least 18kg.
Taking the average population of 55,000 prisoners, the correctional services department is compelled to provide about 990 tonnes of meat every year.
Kenya Prisons Service has thus been spending an average of Sh400 million every year on beef supplies alone under normal prison population.
Stung by the strenuous budget, the authorities have put up a flagship beef farm at Kamiti prison, currently with 348 Boran cattle.
The fattening programme has 100 animals ready for disposal at Sh10 million for internal consumption — but still can’t meet the demand.
The project started with 50 heads that the department acquired from the Agricultural Development Corporation two years ago.
Patrick Kariri, Prisons head of farming enterprises, told the Star the ultimate aim is to cut the costs incurred on beef by half.
The beef project is among 12 flagship agricultural projects initiated by the new management in a turnaround strategy to rescue the enterprise wing.
There are 3,600 heads of livestock – mixed breeds, within the facilities – some of which are being grown with the aim of cutting the cost of meat.
“We started this programme having realised the high expenditure for the government, yet we can raise the animals and consume the meat,” Kariri said.
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COST CUTTING
The ultimate goal of the project is to cut the Sh400 million annual spend by half, without eating into the suppliers’ market.
KPS also seeks to complement meat supplies with dorper sheep being piloted at the Ruiru prison farm.
The herd has grown to 133 from 50 acquired two years ago with hopes it would get to over 200 by next year.
Prisons farms were largely non-profitable until two years ago, when Correctional Services PS Zeinab Hussein and Interior CS Fred Matiang’i instigated the radical changes.
In taking over, the team embarked on a programme to enhance and commercialise the farms for better productivity.
Farm and industry managers signed a commitment to make profits from the turnaround strategy that has jolted KPS to self-sufficiency.
Prisons get rice supplies internally as well as vegetables. The department is also going big on maize, English potato and sunflower, and it has revitalised its dairy farms.
These are distributed to prisons, which pay using their allocation for food at prices much lower than by merchants.
Tea is one of the main revenue streams and the service is equally trying new technologies to boost its earnings from coffee.
At least 65 acres are under tea at the Kericho prison, 33 acres in Uruku Prison in Meru and another 13 acres in Shikhusa.
Some Sh12.5 million was realised last year from an investment of Sh2.5 million, sales made when tea prices were the lowest in 20 years.
KPS says it is saving millions — close to Sh1 billion — from the internal supplies as it bids to put more of its vast acres of land to productive use.
Officials say the gains followed the initiation of the cashless system, which was adopted to help seal loopholes unscrupulous staff used to siphon funds.
KPS houses one of the largest tree nurseries used in President Uhuru Kenyatta’s “Greening Kenya” campaign to achieve 10 per cent tree cover.
Kairiri says the farms are being transformed into centres of excellence for rehabilitating prisons, and are a shot in the arm for the Big Four’s food security pillar.
Uasin Gishu’s Ngeria and Kakamega’s Shikhusa prisons were identified to undertake dairy farming, for a start.
The first crop of 10 pure breed Friesian acquired last year has calved, increasing the stock to 20 and generating Sh350,000 from milk sales in the last half of the year.
As of October 1, the first quarter of the current fiscal year, Sh240,000 was realised from eight tonnes of milk produced in the period, the farms manager said.
Ngeria has 36 dairy cows, whose milk is supplied to New KCC. About 15.7 tonnes with revenue of Sh615,000 was realised last year and Sh240,000 in the first quarter of 2020-21.
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CONSOLIDATING THE GAINS
To support dairy farming, KPS is growing its own fodder, for which it has established 50 tonnes of silage and 100 acres of hay.
Over 30,000 bales of hay was realised last year, of which 50 per cent is supposed to be sold.
To beat price instabilities, authorities are constructing a storage facility for hay.
There is an additional 50 acres of Boma Rhodes hay, 25 acres is under silage; and another 10 acres on lucern.
KPS has also ventured into commercial maize production in North Rift and Western regions.
Over 200 acres of Ngeria prison is under maize, with another 195 acres in Kitale. Some 300 acres is under preparation in Eldoret for maize growing this year.
The project was set to begin last year but was slowed by a dispute with some teachers from Elgeyo Marakwet, who were laying claim to part of the property.
At least 300 acres at Shikhusa prison generated 4,500 bags of maize sold at Sh12.4 million last fiscal year.
The service also netted 93.3 tonnes of rice — from a target of 100 tonnes — valued at Sh23.3 million at Mwea prison farms, which was sold internally last year.
Encouraged by the earnings, there is a plan to expand the acreage to 200 acres this financial year, the service having acquired a tractor, power harrows and thresher.
Kariri said they have employed a relay system, which allows them to grow the crop twice a year. Two water pans were sunk last year.
The authorities are in the process of acquiring a new rice mill and a larger store, already tendered, to help save post-harvest losses.
Mwea prison also boasts of having unique fruits in its orchards: coconut, mangoes, guavas and citrus.
Kibos and Kisumu Medium prisons are equally preparing their lands for growing highland rice and sorghum.
Nearly all the 90 farming prisons of the 133 have a vegetable farm, but only two, Embu and Ruiru, house the flagship greens’ farm.
This year, Embu produced 97.1 tonnes of vegetables, which were supplied to other facilities, markets in Central and Nairobi with a return of Sh6.7 million.
Ruiru, on the other hand, produced 141.6 tonnes of kales, largely sold in Nairobi to net Sh8.5 million. Cadets currently in session also feed on it.
Kariri said they intend to increase the production of kales by investing in drip irrigation to sustain production throughout the year.
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FOOD SECURITY
To bolster the Big Four agenda, the service is in the process of harvesting ware potatoes on a 70-acre farm in Nyandarua to be consumed within the prisons.
With a borehole that supplies five cubic meters of water and an earth dam of 1,800 cubic meters, eyes are set on a path to raise 250 tonnes of potatoes annually.
KPS is also going big on seed potato in the wake of concerns that Kenya can only produce one per cent of the need.
“We hope to make seed potato available to support big four. We are doing this with the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Services (Kephis) and Kalro,” the manager said.
For coffee, KPS has farms in Ruiru (70 acres), Nyeri (13 acres) and Kerugoya (80 acres), which rely on rains.
To beat the dry spell, which has affected earnings, an overhead irrigation system is being put up at Ruiru, currently at 70 per cent.
The service is also changing the variety from SL28 to Ruiru 11, which requires less water and is not susceptible to diseases.
A 200-acre pilot sunflower project at Ngeria, which the service is doing together with Bidco Africa Ltd, providing an off-take market at Sh32 per kilo, is also bearing fruits.
With the reforms, the farms’ revolving fund has grown to Sh640 million from the initial capital base of Sh4.2 million in 1993. The operations are not funded by the Treasury.