Livestock Analysis & Competitive Advantage
Livestock - The Kenyan Context
Livestock accounts for
12% of Kenya’s GDP
and employs
50%
of the agriculture labour force with approximately 70% of the country’s livestock output coming from 10 million pastoralists living in Arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs). The sub-sector supplies the domestic requirements of meat, eggs, milk, and dairy products with the per capita consumption of livestock products estimated at 16kg of meat, 121 liters of milk, and 45 eggs per person annually respectively.
The livestock sub-sector is a critical pillar in Kenya's ambition to achieve her Big 4 Agenda as well as climate-change objectives. The
Agriculture Sector Growth and Transformation Strategy
(ASGTS, 2019-2029) identified dairy, beef, sheep/goat, poultry, and camel as priority value chains that have a high potential for agricultural transformation with projections indicating the exponential growth of the sub-sector over the next three decades
T he Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) estimates the country's annual production at 300,000 tonnes against a demand of 648,252 tonnes. With meat demand outstripping local production capacity, there is potential for investors to explore opportunities in livestock production and value addition in both the local as well as international market
Livestock Production (
Source: KNBS and the State Department for Livestock)
Livestock International Trade (
Source: UN Comtrade Database www.comtrade.un.org/data/)
[1]
Values reported as 0 have either not been reported or indicates absence of trade in the commodity
With investment in improved infrastructure to facilitate trade coupled with effective resource allocation and extension services to improve production capacity, experts estimate that by 2050, the livestock sub-sector will supply an additional 7.8 million tonnes of milk, beef, and chicken meat to the population, an increase of about 150 percent compared to production numbers today.
Fisheries_Analysis & Competitive Advantage
Tourism and Hospitality - The Kenyan Context
Tourism is one of Kenya’s major foreign exchange earners contributing 8.1 percent to the country’s GDP in 2019. This was attributed to improved infrastructure, political stability, and enhanced domestic tourism marketing efforts that sustained the overall growth of the sector.
International visitor arrivals since 2019 increased to 2.0354 million surpassing the two million mark for the second successive year. This saw earnings from the sector increasing by 3.9 percent from USD 1.574 billion in 2018 to USD 1.636 billion in 2019.

The negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic saw a sharp decline with international arrivals recorded at 426,158 in 2020 resulting in a drop in the sector’s contribution to the GDP down to 4.2%.
However, the government’s protocols to curb the spread of the coronavirus coupled with the implementation of the 2020
Sector Stimulus Programme
and
Tourism Recovery Strategies
have seen a steady improvement in tourism arrivals.
Strategic Interventions
The
Turkana County Government, through strategic interventions in collaboration
with the National Government, Development Partners, and the Private Sector,
continues to support and catalyze both domestic and foreign investors in the
County’s Livestock and Fisheries sub-sectors. Some of these interventions
include:
-
Prioritization of the 2 sub-sectors by dedicating and resourcing an entire County Government department to facilitate the sustainable development and management of livestock and fisheries. This includes a direct investment of USD 37 million between 2018 and 2022 to enhance the County’s production capacity
-
Direct investment of over USD 15.28 million between 2018 and 2022 towards the conservation of the flora, fauna and wildlife resources in Turkana County as well as the promotion of biological diversity, environmental conservation, and sustainability
-
Development of legislative instruments like the Turkana County Livestock Policy and Bill and Turkana County Livestock Saleyards Bill to entrench county-specific incentives for investors
-
Collaborating with the National Government on the National Agricultural and Rural Inclusive Growth (NARIG) Project to improve the production of sheep and goats
-
Collaboration with the National Government and Development Partners in the implementation of the Agricultural Sector Development Support Programme to consolidate and harmonize development interventions in the Livestock and Fisheries sub-sectors
-
Rehabilitation and upgrading of supporting infrastructure including roads, fish landing sites, and livestock markets across the county
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Facilitating the development of a Feasibility Study for the Revival of the Meat Processing Plant in Lomidat as well as the Strategic Integrated Value Chain Action Plan (SIVCAP) showcasing the commercial and investment opportunities in the goat meat value chain
-
Providing free veterinary services, free extension services, and free vaccinations across all sub-counties to help improve livestock productivity
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Participating in the Frontier Counties Development Council (FCDC) that - through various interventions - enhances the resilience of the pastoralist community with an aim of improving livestock-based livelihoods and sustainable socio-economic development through livestock marketing
Areas of Opportunity
The Turkana County Government has established partnerships with the National Government, Development Partners, the Kenya Investment Authority, and the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Through these partnerships, the County Government, in consultation with stakeholders, is constantly profiling and documenting domestic as well as foreign direct investment opportunities in the Livestock and Fisheries sub-sectors
In line with the Kenya Vision 2030, the National Government’s Big 4 Agenda and the County Government’s mid-term Development Plan, the Turkana County Government invites interested investors and mid-sized startup enterprises to participate and develop opportunities in:
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Rehabilitation and operations of the Meat Processing Plant in Lomidat and establishment of a meat processing plant in Lokichoggio
-
Operationalization of the tannery in Lodwar
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Establishment of a facility to process animal feeds and inputs for sheep, goats, and cattle
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Establishment of a facility to produce fishing equipment to scale commercialized fishing activities in Lake Turkana
-
Establishment of cold storage and value addition for the fisheries sub-sector
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Collaboration with technology solution providers as well as research institutions to enhance production quality and veterinary services
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Breeding technologies and services to introduce more resilient livestock breeds
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Diversification of livestock farming into rabbit and poultry production and value addition