Farmers groups in Kirinyaga County dealing in poultry keeping will benefit from 86,000 improved kienyeji chicks from Governor Anne Waiguru’s administration
The chicks, which have been given out by the governor, will be distributed to 77 farmers’ groups across the county.
This is expected to boost the ongoing poultry project in which farmers’ groups are supported to produce at least one million for sale eggs in a month.
Out of these chicks, 54,000 of them will go 45 newly recruited groups which will each receive 1,200 chicks while 32,000 others will be used for restocking brood among the previously existing 32 groups, each of which will receive 1,000 chicks.
While handing over the chicks for Kagumo-ini A Self Help Group in Mwea, the governor said that egg production is one of the projects that the county government is funding farmers to undertake in order to increase their agricultural production and income.
Governor Anne Waiguru giving chicks to a farmer in Kirinyaga.
Photo credit: George Munene | Nation Media Group
“The mass egg production project is aimed at improving the livelihoods of Kirinyaga people by providing them with alternative income streams, thereby reducing overreliance on the conventional cash crop farming,” said the governor.
She added that the groups will also receive free quality chicken feeds from the county’s Kiaga animal feeds factory for six months, and thereafter access the same feeds at a subsidised price.
To guarantee returns for the project, Ms Waiguru said that once the eggs are collected, they will be taken to the storage facility at Kiaga, where they are packaged and branded before being marketed by Kirinyaga Investment Development Authority (Kida) on behalf of the farmers.
She pointed out that through the Wezesha Kirinyaga programme, her administration is currently supporting more than 300 farmers’ groups to diversify agricultural activities through projects such as poultry keeping, avocado, tomato, dairy and fish farming, pig rearing as well as bee keeping.
Last year, the Kirinyaga governor launched a poultry rearing project which was meant to help farmers in 32 community groups produce at least one million eggs per month. The project was expected to impact about 640 households.
Earlier this month, the Kirinyaga County government embarked on a project that seeks to promote pig rearing of in a bid to empower residents economically.
While speaking in Makutano town, Governor Waiguru revealed that her administration has supported 20 groups to undertake pig production.
Noting that the county has the potential to produce enough pork that can even be exported to other countries, Ms Waiguru observed that there is huge demand for pork in Kirinyaga and beyond.
Ms Waiguru reiterated that her administration is determined to empower all residents of Kirinyaga through various projects.
Last year, farmers groups were funded by the county government to establish avocado seedling nurseries, in the first round of the National Agricultural Rural Inclusive Growth Programme (NARIGP).
“We want to be the leader in avocado seedlings production where our residents will be selling quality seedlings to other farmers within and outside our county. Through our Wezesha Kirinyaga programme, we will also be building avocado aggregation centres and an avocado processing plant where avocados for local and export market will be processed,” Ms Waiguru said in May when she launched the distribution of 60,000 seedlings to residents.
