Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs) has raised the red flag over the quality of livestock feeds sold in the local market.
The agency’s North Rift regional manager Vincent Cheruiyot said tests on samples of animal feeds showed that over 50 percent lacked proper formulation among other issues.
He said out of 17 brands for poultry and dairy feeds tested in the region, only one met laid down standards.
“From the tests, we found there is a lack of critical ingredients, especially the protein source and minerals needed by livestock farmers. This is a continuous monitoring exercise and we are engaging them to put in place corrective measures to ensure that they have met the market requirements,” stated Mr Cheruiyot.
He observed that since most of the raw materials such as cotton seed cake, sunflower, sardine (Omena) and minerals are imported, this results in some manufacturers failing to ensure proper formulation.
“Most of the raw materials for protein source are imported from neighbouring countries while minerals are imported from devolved countries. Due to high cost, some manufacturers don’t uniformly mix the ingredients for the farmers leading to quality issues,” said the regional boss, noting that some of the small and medium-sized firms, feeds made at farm level and sold in agrovets were some of those which have flouted the standards.
Mr Cheruiyot said that the regulator is engaging with various counties and other stakeholders to encourage farmers to ensure the availability of the raw materials to be used in the manufacture of livestock feeds.
“We are seeking collaborations with the counties to encourage farmers to invest in the cultivation of these crops to help lower the cost of these ingredients in feed manufacture. This also addresses some of these challenges,” he added.
Most farmers in the country still practice the free range system hence overrey on rain-fed agriculture for pasture and water, leading to the fluctuations in milk production year-round.
