Kirinyaga farmers rave about benefits of Waiguru’s pig project

As consumer demand for pork rises, the beneficiaries of the Wezesha Kirinyaga pig project launched last year by Governor Anne Waiguru’s administration are upbeat about their earnings.

The beneficiaries, belonging to 20 farmers’ groups, say that piglets given to them by the county government have matured and the sows have given birth and are now ready to be sold.

Demand for pork has been growing in the wake of increased health awareness campaigns to reduce the consumption of red meat.

Greater demand is driving prices higher and the farmers’ groups are hoping to tap into this.

The Wezesha Kirinyaga economic programme focuses on diversifying agricultural activities with the aim of increasing household incomes.

Twenty farmers’ groups were each given a mature sow and 15 weaner pigs. They also received free pig feeds for the first two months of the project.

The new litter will now form the new stock, with some groups intending to raise them for meat production while others want to venture into selling piglets to other farmers in their localities.

Running smoothly

Mr Simon Macharia, a member of the Kangu Thayu Self-Help Group, in Gichugu, says the project has been running smoothly and their sow has already given birth. Once they start selling the pigs, he says, the money will help to expand the group’s project and lift the standards of living of individual members.

Ms Loise Kimani, from the Kiangima Gwiteithia youth group in Kirinyaga Central, said the pig project has enabled members to effectively carry out an income-generating activity.

She thanked the county government for the initiative and urged young people to form such empowerment groups.

Mr Moses Murimi, the chairman of Kirimunge Shiners Group, said that even though most members previously did not know how to rear pigs, they were taken through training and they are now competent pig farmers.

He said the project will take them far, observing that the Duroc pig variety that was given to them is profitable one because it matures quickly and, in no time, they will be selling their pigs.

He added that the project will help the youth earn an income as a group and as individuals, saying that besides selling mature pigs, they will also use the project for breeding so as to sell piglets to other farmers.

Governor Waiguru said that at maturity, each pig is expected to fetch between Sh17,000 and Sh20,000 depending on its weight.

According to the 2019 Population and Housing Census and statistics from the State Department of Livestock, small-scale farmers make up 70 per cent of all pig farmers. There are 595,631 pigs in Kenya, producing 14,440 metric tonnes of pork annually valued at Sh3.8 billion.

Transport business

Governor Waiguru said that apart from farmers earning an income from selling pigs, many women and young people work in the pig transportation business, pork eateries and transportation of pig feeds among other support activities.

The pig-rearing groups are among 473 that have been funded by the county government under the Wezesha Kirinyaga programme to undertake various agricultural value chain projects such as poultry keeping, fish, tomato, dairy and avocado farming, as well as beekeeping.

Ms Waiguru said that the programme provides farmers, among them women and youth, with alternative livelihoods that will lead to greater income and better standards of living.

She noted that the Wezesha projects not only support the county’s economic development agenda but will also contribute to the achievement of the food security goal of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Big Four agenda.