LIVESTOCK REMAINS THE ECONOMIC MAINSTAY OF MANDERA COUNTY

Livestock keeping is a major source of income for households in Mandera County just as in Kenya’s other Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs). An estimated 70 percent of the nation’s cattle stocks are located in these regions .The livestock sub-sector accounts for about 10 per cent of Kenya’s entire GDP and about 42per cent of the agricultural GDP. It also supplies the domestic requirements of the east

Africa nation meat, milk and dairy products, and other livestock products while accounting for about 30 per cent of the total marketed agricultural products. Kenya’s total cattle stocks increased from about 14 million heads in 1990 to 18 million heads in 2010, with significant variability between years due to reoccurring drought and disease outbreak. Although official trade volumes are low, Kenya is generally considered an exporter of live cattle, with Uganda and Mauritius serving as its main export partners.

Domestic beef consumption more than doubled over the past two decades, with beef accounting for about 73 percent of the total meat consumed by Kenyans. Market data indicates that Kenya meets its high national demand for beef by importing large volumes of cattle through informal, cross-border trade. Presently, Mandera has estimated 1.07 million cattle, 1.63 million sheep, 3.85 million sheep and 1.4million camels. Mandera County has a huge potential for livestock trade given the vast open land for rearing.

Herders at Takaba South vaccinating their goats ,vaccines were provided by the county government

Main Livestock Breeds in Mandera

The common types of livestock reared are goats (galla breeds), cattle (boran breeds), camels (Somali breeds), sheep (Somali black head breeds), donkeys (Somali breed) and chicken (indigenous breed).

Marketing and Trade

- Although Kenya is self-sufficient in most livestock products, it is not self-sufficient in red meat production and consistently meets its shortfall through inflows of on-the-hoof animals trekked across its porous borders from neighbouring countries, such as Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan, Uganda and Tanzania.

- Kenya imports about 25-30 percent of its beef through unofficial movement of cattle across its borders, and about 2 million beef cattle enter the country annually, making the national herd highly variable.

- Kenya exports most of its live cattle to Uganda and Mauritius while Burundi and Tanzania also form sizeable markets.

- Imports of live animals require health clearance certificates issue by the port of entrance stating that the animal is healthy.

- All animals for export to Kenya must be held 21 days in approved quarantine facilities, which must be regularly inspected by veterinary authorities of the exporting country and subject to inspected by a veterinary officer from Kenya where necessary.