Breeders' show attracting attention across East Africa

By Ferdinand Mwongela

In Kenya, agriculture is the mainstay of the economy. A good number of the population engage in agriculture, be it commercial or for subsistence.

Livestock farming sub-sector is a key cog in the agricultural sector, with mostly the arid and semi-arid areas at the forefront of the practice.

For a lot of people, however, the countless opportunities offered by this industry are missed and this is something that the Brookside Livestock Breeders Show and Sale hopes change.

The show hopes to show farmers how to make their livestock farming a profitable venture.

As the Brookside Livestock Breeders Show and Sale starts off at the ASK Jamhuri Park Show grounds, it will be playing host to farmers from all over East Africa to showcase their animals and learn from others as well.

The biennial show has continued to attract livestock industry stakeholders with the organisers expecting this edition to be even bigger than previous ones.

Amid the sea of farmers and their animals, a farmer from Southern Tanzania, Mark Taylor will be showing off his animals, which he says he had to move for about 40 hours over land to Nairobi.

Expand market

Taylor says he has taken part in several shows and he is here to network with other stakeholders and seek to expand the market for his beef.

The beef farmer says they sell bulls to Tanzania, Zambia and Malawi and they are here to gauge the Kenyan and Uganda Markets.

He also wants to gauge his studs against those of other farmers.

"It is an important marketing tool," says Taylor who points out that by gauging their studs against those of other farmers, they would be able to know how far they are.

He says they will be looking to improve their stock and if they find a breed that adds value to their stock on sale, they might consider buying it.

The farmer who only produces beef points out that Boran is their main breed.

He praises the show as really well organised and looked upbeat even after the hard task of making sure that the cows make the 40 odd hours of journey to get to the show in good health.

Jimmy Brooks, the Chairman of the Brookside Livestock Breeders Show and Sale, hopes the show will among other things be able to show Kenyans and other participants from East Africa what can be achieved from livestock farming.

Leverage economy

According to Brooks, people should be able to realise that they can run cattle farming as a business.

Given the place that livestock farming plays in many parts of the country, this is a factor that cannot be overlooked.

The livestock sector contributes about 10 per cent of the national GDP, while the dairy sector alone contributes about 3.5 per cent.

The show chairman says the event offers farmers a place to meet other breeders and also link up with service providers many of whom will be showcasing their services and products to farmers for the duration of the three-day show.

He is, however, quick to point out that Kenya has a much more developed livestock industry judging from its significant contribution both to the country’s agricultural and national GDP.

The show being held this week will be sponsored by the Brookside Dairy Company. From inception, the milk processor has been the main sponsor of the premier event on the farmers’ annual calendar.

This year, Brookside has committed Sh19 million towards organisation from Sh13 million in the last show held in 2009.

Growing in stature

The growing sponsorship attests to the growing stature of the event that is a source of information and market to livestock farmers.

Over the years, the show has kept growing, from its initial beginnings as a dairy breeds event, and later expanding to accommodate all livestock breeders.

Thus as the Brookside Livestock Breeders Show and Sale kicks off tomorrow, in focus will be a growing industry that has seen the likes of Brookside Dairy Company expand to embrace markets across East Africa, with fully fledged operations in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, and growing markets as far away as Egypt and the Middle East.

For farmers like Mark Taylor, the show is a god-sent opportunity to gauge their performance and improve their breeds.

For those who want to learn a thing or two about livestock farming, it is an unrivalled learning opportunity.

The organisers promise among other things demonstrations on various aspects of livestock keeping all geared towards empowering those present and to continuously improve the stock and quality of both animals and products derived from the industry.