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Crop Livestock and Fish Production

Main crops produced

 The main crops produced in Kisii County are maize, bananas, beans, potatoes, tea, sugarcane, coffee and horticultural crops. However, due to small land holdings, there is need to encourage growing of both traditional food crops and horticultural to ensure food security.

 Acreage under food crops and cash crops

The acreage under cash crops in Kisii County is approximately 17,800ha while the area under food crops is about 72,500ha. However, the land tenure is still in small holdings which cannot sustain the use of modern farming technology.

Average farm sizes

 The average farm sizes in the county range from 0.5 acres to 4.5 acres of land. The small size of land holdings is as result of the high population which has led to sub-divisions of land into small units that are not economical. This has serious implications to the county in terms of food security and measures such as land policies on land use ought to be put in place and intensifying modern methods of farming like Zero grazing which require small sizes of land.

Main storage facilities

 The main storage facilities in Kisii County include: Cereals board, granaries, stores and sacks in the houses. However, only 30% of the produce is stored in the storage facilities due to low level of production as almost everything is consumed immediately. It is therefore important to establish cereal boards in major centres of the county to ensure proper handling and storage of food.

 Main Livestock bred

 The main livestock bred in Kisii County are; Dairy cattle and Zebu, goats, sheep, donkeys, poultry among others. Due to land scarcity in the county, there is need to encourage zero grazing and rearing of grade breeds to increase productivity and balance competing needs for crops and livestock production.

Main fishing activities

The county has 677 fish farmers with 3,100 fish ponds with each of the seven constituencies having at least 300 fish ponds. Tilapia and Cat fish are the main types of fish grown. However, the government through the ministry of fisheries has made efforts through the Economic Stimulus programme to train farmers and establish fish ponds in each constituency. This ought to be encouraged so that the number of fish farmers can increase and generate incomes from their produce hence increasing county revenue.