FAO initiates programme to boost poultry farming in Kisumu Kenya

Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has initiated programs that aim at promoting poultry keeping among smallholder farmers in Kisumu County in Kenya.

The Organization in collaboration with the County Government of Kisumu are out to bolster agricultural production as a strategy to ensure food security and promote alternative income streams for Kisumu County residents.

As an intervention to building resilience in farmers in the poultry business, FAO Kenya has disbursed grants in form of day-old chicks valued at Sh.11 million to poultry farmers through the Urban Food Systems project targeting rural-urban communities in the County.

Beneficiaries

The ambitious project benefited 100 farmers from Kisumu East, Kisumu central, Nyando and Kisumu West sub-counties who were issued with 10,000-day-old chicks to promote poultry as a viable intervention steered towards improving the livelihoods of the locals.

The CECM for Agriculture, Irrigation, Livestock and Fisheries Gilchrist Okuom commended FAO for the generous gesture that has positively impacted the livelihood of the people. He called on the farmers to take care of the birds to realize profits from both the eggs and meat from the improved Kienyeji breeds.

Through the initiative, the beneficiaries also underwent a three-day training to equip them with technical skills in the sub-sector to venture into the poultry business effectively. The training focused on poultry housing, brooder establishment, feeds, feeding, poultry disease control and management, waste management, entrepreneurship and business skills. In addition, FAO Kenya handed over bags of chicken feeds and an assortment of poultry farming equipment to beneficiaries from Kisumu East Sub County during a function presided over by the FAO Agribusiness Coordinator David Makongo.

The farmers received 100 units of 50kg bags of layers and growers mash for birds meant for eggs and meat enhancement respectively. In addition, they were issued with equipment like chicken feeding trays, drinkers, feeders, syringes, droppers, disinfectants, gloves, dewormers, multi-vitamin, plywood sheets and automated drinkers and pipes.