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Residents venture into poultry farming to combat perpetual rustling

Wednesday, December 16th, 2020 00:00 | By
Nyahururu Catholic Diocese head, Bishop Joseph Mbatia and KALRO’s George Keya hand over improved chicks to residents. Photo/PD/DAVID MACHARIA

Livestock rearing is the most risky activity in Wangwaci Location, Ol Moran Division of Laikipia County because armed raiders who attack to steal the animals also kill or maim people.

 A majority of residents’ sole economic activity has been wrecked when rustlers make away with their animals.

 To eliminate this vice, the Nyahururu Catholic Diocese, through its Non-Governmental Organisation  group known as Caritas,  has partnered with Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation (KALRO) to introduce chicken husbandry to substitute livestock rearing.

Caritas Kenya is the development and humanitarian arm of the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops.

 The partnership has seen numerous groups of residents benefit from chicks of the fast maturing breeds of the improved indigenous hen.

 On Monday, some groups received 11,000 chicks they had purchased in subsidised prices from KALRO.

 The chicks were handed over to the groups by Bishop Joseph Mbatia of Nyahururu Diocese and George Keya on behalf of KALRO Director General Eliud Kireger.

 Kireger, in a speech read on his behalf by Keya, said the 5,000  chicks distributed to farmers in Laikipia and parts of Nyandarua is being implemented by KALRO’s AgriFI Kenya Climate Smart Agricultural Productivity Project, a Sh800 million project sponsored by European Union and Kenyan government.

It is a five-year project expected to benefit half a million people countrywide, mostly smallholder farmers and pastoralists. 

He said 80 per cent of Laikipia and Nyandarua residents rely on agriculture as a main source of livelihood and no effort should be spared to alleviate their plight.

Rural areas

 Kireger said hatcheries are being established in rural areas to meet the increasing demand for the improved indigenous chicken.

 Bishop Mbatia on the other hand said the church is engaging in integral human development through Caritas because “it is not good to feed a person spiritually without empowering him to meet his daily needs.”

Wanguache chief, Paul Nasi said the chicken project is also expected to empower  local women. 

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