More than 100 women’s groups in Uasin Gishu could soon become chief suppliers of chicks in Western Kenya through the county government’s Inua Mama na Kuku, the brainchild of Governor Jackson Mandago.
If the venture is successful, it will see 126 beneficiary groups in 13 wards share the market with Naivasha’s Kenya Agricultural Livestock Research Organisation (KALRO).
The county government has pumped Sh10 million into the project, which seeks to improve the livelihoods of women.
The beneficiaries will receive incubators from the county. Each member of the groups is expected to install an incubator with a capacity to produce 1,000 chicks every 21 days.
Officials are optimistic Uasin Gishu will become a supplier of chicks in Western Kenya, which has for a long time relied on KALRO in Naivasha, though high demand outstrips supply.
“We have ventured into this project after seeing a big demand in the supply of chicks to farmers in this region. We have been sourcing chicks from KALRO in Naivasha and for a long time we have realised that the demand is so high that KALRO alone cannot meet the demand of farmers in need of chicks,” said Livestock Development Chief Officer Barnabas Too.
“When we have these incubators, we will be able to hatch our chicks and supply other parts of the country.”
Women trained
The county has trained more than 1,000 women farmers on poultry management skills and dynamics of the farming, which is gaining popularity in the region long known as a cereals producer.
Members a women group in Uasin Gishu who are among beneficiaries of a chick incubation project facilitated by the county government. The project targets 126 women groups in the county.
Speaking when the incubators were distributed, Mr Too said they chose the project after a series of trials and research that proved its viability.
Mr Too said the rollout is the culmination of the famous Inua Mama na Kuku project initiated by Governor Mandago in 2014.
In that initiative, 3,000 women’s groups produced 400,000 chicks that benefited 40,000 households, he said.
Mr Too said the success of the Inua Mama na Kuku project has triggered the county to invest more in the project to provide an alternative source of chicks for farmers in the country who have chiefly relied on supplies from KALRO.
“After seeing the benefit of the Inua Mama na Kuku project, our county has seen it worthy to expand the project by empowering the women’s groups to go full into commercial production of chicks,” he said.
He said the project will improve the livelihoods of women and young people in the county because beneficiaries are from low-income backgrounds. BY DAILY NATION