LIVESTOCK DEVELOPMENT

Invest opportunities exist in:

Animal feeds

Kisii County is a high potential area that livestock and fisheries industries are highly developed hence the need for manufactured livestock and fish feeds to supplement the locally available feeds. The county livestock population (2012 estimates) shows that there are 268,445 heads of cattle, 84,462 goats, 31,425 sheep, 10,000 broilers, 110,700 layers and 1,074,430 indigenous poultry. Currently the county is importing this product from Nakuru County, Kisumu County and Nairobi City County which are many miles aware. A local feed mill will contribute to reducing costs of production as well as increasing feeds accessibility.

 Milk Processing Plant

Milk marketing is predominantly through informal channels in the county whereby fresh milk is traded and sold direct to consumer individuals and institutions. With the National Dairy Master plan envisioning an organized and formalized channel an opportunity exists for processing and value addition of the commodity. This can be achieved through establishment of a cold chain for marketing this highly perishable product. The county currently produces 190,916,674 litres of milk in a year and production is expected to increase with the establishment of the plant.

Poultry Keeping

The demand of poultry meat is very high in the county due to high population. The hospitality industry is rapidly growing in the county as Kisii is an economic hub in the region. Consumer preference is shifting from red meat to white meat due to medical oriented nutritional demand. This justifies the need to venture into this busin

 Beekeeping

With limited land resource and considering the favourable climate the opportunity of developing beekeeping for honey and bee-product production emerges. In 2012 the county produced an estimate of 45,487 kg of honey and 8,657 kg of beeswax. There exists a demand for honey locally and internationally because of its medicinal value and the food-wholesomeness. An opportunity exists in formalizing these products’ marketing through processing, branding and accessing supermarkets and external consumers.

 Dairy Goats Multiplication Centre

An opportunity exists for having a multiplication centre for dairy goats. Due to land pressure, dairy goats are becoming an alternative enterprise to dairy cows. The centre can supply breeding stock from farmers in the county and the surrounding counties. In addition, the demand for dairy goat milk is on the increase due to its medicinal value. A kg of milk in the county goes at Kshs. 100 in the county. Currently there are only 1008.

Rabbit keeping

Consumer preference is shifting from red meat to white meat due to medical oriented nutritional demand. This justifies the need to venture into Rabbit keeping business as it has not been explored optimally. One Kilogram of rabbit meat sales at kshs 600, the product has demand locally and nationally. (Insert picture)

Hides and Skin processing industry

The county produces about 638,712kg hides and 837, 413 kg of skins in a year; however, there is no tannery for processing them. This calls for establishment of the industry to process them. This industry will serve the neighboring counties as well.

Slaughter house

There is high demand of slaughter services in the town and its environs hence this calls for a modern slaughter house which will serve the neighboring counties and major towns in the country. Currently, Suneka slaughterhouse which exports its products to Nairobi is overwhelmed and the Kisii slaughter house does not meet the required standards.