Farmers in the semi-arid area of West Pokot county have embraced modern goat and sheep rearing to boost food security and improving the quality of stock reared in the region. Farmers in the area have started improving animal breeds by rearing Galla goats and Dorper sheep noting that they offer a better economic value and would help improve their livelihoods thanks to the county government for initiating the project.
West Pokot is one of the leading regions when it comes to livestock keeping in the country. The indigenous Galla breed of goats have been known for their resilience to cope well in tough semi-arid climatic conditions, with the female goats rearing kids up to 10 years while mature males weigh between 70 and 100 kilograms.
One successful farmer from Kipkitony village, Chepareria Division in South Pokot District is Joel Chumang’ole who rears the Galla and Dorper sheep. He got the knowledge from a training camp that was organized by the county government and is now involved in upgrading the goats and sheep. Presently, he has more than 100 Galla and Dorper sheep on his small farm and the venture has sustained him so far.
Chumang’ole makes close to 300,00 per year from the sale of the livestock and he receives customers at his home on a daily basis, plus he is a well-known farmer given that he even conducts his business on the social media platform.
Talking about the sheep and the goats and how they have boosted his living standards, he said “They take 6 months to mature. I got big losses when I used to rear cows and I decided to buy male Galla goat which and right now am in a position to feed my family and pay school fees for my children. I sell them all over the county. I get customers from Kakamega, Turkana, Trans Nzoia, Uasin Gishu, and Murang’a and I also sell to non-governmental organizations,” said Chumang’ole. “The goats can be affected by diseases, but the doctors are near,” he said, “I use hand spraying and deworming every time.”
Chumang’ole, who is prominent in the area, already has future plans, as he says he will need more breeds, approximately more than 500 so that he can be able to sell more than 100 of those breeds every year when the meat processing plant being constructed at Nasukuta is complete. The farmer is in a group called West Pokot Galla goats Breeders Association where farmers exchange ideas on farming and rearing of goats.
West Pokot county Livestock Department Chief Officer James Akudian said the county is doing an intensive cross-breeding of Galla goats and sheep in the area and he urged farmers to scale up. He said the county government is offering a capacity building program to farmers in the county on modern farming technologies so that they can keep away from conventional methods of livestock rearing which lead to insufficient returns.
