State out to save chicken in Western

By Grace Wekesa

The Veterinary department will soon enforce strict laws to ensure chicken meat is safe for human consumption in Kakamega.

The department is also planning a campaign to stop cruelty to poultry on transit to markets.

Kakamega residents consume 1,000 chicken daily, with most of it being sourced from outside the country. Chicken meat is popular with the community around here-Luhya-who use it for food in various ceremonies and at home.

Currently the price of chicken in Kakamega town ranges from Sh300 to Sh500, which is expected to rise to about Sh1,000 during the December festive season.

According to Kakamega Central Veterinary Officer Christopher Atsiaya, those found breaching the law would be penalised or banned from conducting the business.

“We are going to invoke Cap 556 of the Meat Control Act which ensures meat for human consumption is slaughtered from designated and licensed slaughter houses and chicken carried humanely as possible in cages or crates,’’ said Dr Atsiaya during a stakeholders’ meeting to discuss the progress made to open the first ever chicken slaughter house in the town.

The slaughter house is built near the town’s meat slaughter house and will be managed by farmers from Iguhu in Ikolomani constituency using equipment bought by the Government from a World Bank loan.

The slaughter house will help poultry farmers to sell and market out their chicken in small pieces expected to earn them more money.

His comment follows concerns raised by stakeholders over the inhuman transportation of chicken and slaughtering of the birds in poor environmental conditions in Kakamega.

He said for some time the residents had been conducting chicken business in haphazard manner which endangers the lives of consumers and subjecting the birds to immense torture during transportation.

John Mayengo, Regional Coordinator of Kenya Agricultural Productivity and Agri-based Project (KAPP) said demand for chicken is set to rise three to four times during Christmas and election period.

The high demand has suppressed supply prompting the region to rely on chicken from neighbouring counties.

Manyengo affirmed that local people consume more chicken than they produce forcing the region to rely on other districts to supplement the demand as far as Uganda and South Africa for eggs and chicken.

Mr Manyengo said through World Bank, he has contracted a private service provider to scale up local poultry production to end the shortage of chicken in Kakamega County.

He said through KAPP trainings, the number of chicken per household has increased from 15 to between 20-40.

Most consumers of chicken prefer local breeds of which Kenya Agricultural Research Institute in Kakamega has come in to supplement the World Bank project by starting a hatchery for improved local breeds.

Some months ago, the World Bank stepped in to end shortage of indigenous chicken in Western Province by providing funds to farmers to increase production.

It is a five-year project aimed at ending shortage of chicken, increase agricultural productivity and participation of small-scale farmers, thus contributing to poverty reduction in the region, food security and employment creation.

KAPP and Western Water Sanitation Organisation were given the mandate to train farmers in Kakamega County.  Sh1.5million was allocated for the project.

Statistics released by the ministry of Agriculture in the province last year revealed that about Sh6billion is used to buy chicken annually with most of the money channelled to farmers from other counties.