SPEECH BY CEC-LIVESTOK AT THE LAUNCH OF TAITA TAVETA COUNTY LIVESTOCK MULTIPLICATION PROGRAM AT LMD BACHUMA ON 3/3/2014.

This task has not been easy for this department. The Livestock sector is one of the sectors which used to receive very little funding from the national government. The number of technical staff has kept on dwindling at the expense of direct extension services to our people. The infrastructure we have in the county is at deplorable state. When I visited this station in August last year I found it was scrub and bush, there was no water, no sign of life, and so on. The only sign of life was elephant dung and destruction to fences and water points by the same as they were searching for water. However, I had a sigh of relief when I saw some little development in terms of a feed lot and some one or two machineries courtesy of the Economic Stimulus Program under the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries Development.
I also learnt that Bachuma Holding Ground has been selected as one of the Disease Free Zones in the country and has been chosen to be the first in establishing it so that it can match the international standards of a disease free zone.
Ladies and gentlemen, we also have the Mwatate Livestock Multiplication farm. Again when I visited it-it was also in a deplorable condition in fact worse than Bachuma holding ground. Now here I am with my staff and our Governor has already announced different livestock are arriving soon in our county….
…However, with the support from our Governor, early last month we managed to restock this station/farm with 78 heads of boran and sahiwal breed of cattle, that is 18 bulls and 60 heifers. Also 90 galla goats have been procured that is 10 bucks and 80 does. This is far below the carrying capacity. We project to gradually increase the carrying capacity through improvement of pasture production and utilization, intensive reseeding , improved water supply to strategic grazing areas, rehabilitation of farm structures, staff houses, fencing, firebreaks and so on.
Read more here: http://www.duncanmwanyumba.org/research/research-on-land/livestock/77-speech-by-cec-livestok-at-the-launch-of-taita-taveta-county-livestock-multiplication-program-at-lmd-bachuma-on-332014