The livestock sector needs Sh700 million to restock, following massive deaths of the animals due to drought and current floods.
Speaking during a leather stakeholders meeting at Jacaranda Hotel on Thursday, Livestock Development permanent secretary, Kenneth Lusaka, said the Sh130 million already provided for was inadequate.
“This is a far cry from what is needed. We have developed a memo asking the government for more support,” he said.
Mr Lusaka added that the ministry is preparing a comprehensive report on the losses suffered by farmers due to the drought and floods.
He said another Sh500 million that was provided for buying livestock from farmers during the height of drought was also meant to cushion them by way of assisting them restock once the weather improved.
“We shall soon be moving to these areas to see if farmers are using the money to restock. We hope they did not use it for the festivities,” Mr Lusaka said.
Last year, the PS said, an estimate of more than 100,000 cattle died due to drought, while the floods that have hit most of arid and semi-arid areas have swept away others.
During the meeting, a report on the progress of reforms initiated in 2005 to enhance value addition in the sector was unveiled.
The government increased taxes on export of raw skins and hides from 20 to 40 per cent to encourage value addition. With a matching grant from World Bank, the government has been assisting small-and-medium enterprises in value addition.
The report will be handed to the National Economic and Social Council.
Industrialisation PS, John Lonyangapuo, said value addition in the sector held the key to alleviating poverty in arid-and semi-arid areas.
Consumers
“The ministry considers the leather sector as key to alleviating poverty. This is because it has a long value chain that includes farmers, slaughterhouses, tanneries, hides and skin traders, finished leather manufacturers, marketers and consumers,” he said.
He added that export earnings from semi-processed leather and raw skins increased by 21.6 per cent from Sh3.2 billion in 2005 to Sh4 billion in 2008. However, the potential of the sector is yet to be fully exploited due to poor hides and skins, he said.
Other challenges include technology transfer, environmental degradation, lack of technical skills and counterfeits. Drought has further undermined the quality of hides and skins.
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