Livestock farmers from Taita Taveta County, Kenya, are set to benefit a digital animals vaccination drive aimed at reducing disease prevalence, increasing productivity, and enhancing service delivery across the dairy sector.
The campaign which incorporate a digital e-voucher system, was launched under the National Agricultural Value Chain Development Project (NAVCDP), with a special focus on the dairy sector.
The innovative platform connects farmer cooperatives with veterinary experts, vaccine suppliers, and key partners, including Safaricom and Mifugo 360, streamlining service delivery and boosting efficiency at the grassroots level.
County Executive Committee Member for Agriculture, Livestock, Irrigation, and Cooperative Development, Katuu Mzenge, emphasized the urgency of fast‑tracking the rollout to ensure wide-reaching impact: “We must build on the momentum and ensure every livestock farmer feels the impact of this programme. We have already made significant progress at the ward level, and this is the time to scale up,” he said.
Chief Livestock Officer Habibu Mruttu welcomed the intervention, noting the challenges his department has faced: “It is a timely boost that will help us curb animal diseases and reinforce our veterinary services,” he remarked.
Echoing those goals, Chief Agriculture Officer Mcharo Mwalugha called on all wards to mobilise their cooperative societies, which she described as essential for implementing the Bottom‑Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA) framework and delivering vital services to farmers.
NAVCDP County Coordinator Andrew Mbinga offered insights into the wider ambitions of the campaign: he said it is designed to shift communities from socio‑political dependence toward economic self‑reliance. He also highlighted that the campaign includes cutting‑edge livestock tracking technologies, robust vaccine cold‑chain management systems, public‑awareness initiatives, and strict observance of environmental and social monitoring standards.
The programme is managed at the ward level via committees composed of government officers, cooperative representatives and other stakeholders. According to Mbinga, this decentralised structure ensures greater farmer engagement and positions the dairy sector as a driving force for rural economic transformation in the county.
Local farmers are expected to gain access to free or subsidised veterinary vaccinations, administered promptly and transparently through the digital voucher system—an improvement from previous campaigns that were constrained by logistical inefficiencies and funding limits. The drive is thus anticipated to help farmers reduce livestock mortality, improve herd health, and increase milk yields and income over time.
By leveraging digital tools and public-private partnerships, Taita Taveta County aims to scale the programme countywide, covering smallholder dairy producers and pastoralist communities alike. Integration with Safaricom and Mifugo 360 ensures streamlined coordination from vaccine order to delivery and follow-up tracking.
Funding for this initiative flows through NAVCDP, a national project that supports agricultural value-chain development with a focus on dairy, horticulture and cereals. In Taita Taveta, dairy farmers now stand to enjoy improved veterinary access thanks to this technology-supported approach.
As the programme unfolds at ward level with technical input from county agricultural and livestock officers, the knock-on effects are expected to ripple across the rural economy—boosting food security, raising household incomes, and positioning Taita Taveta as a leader in agricultural innovation under Kenya’s BETA agenda.
With this digital-driven vaccination drive now underway, the future of dairy farming in Taita Taveta County looks healthier, more resilient and increasingly productive.
