In Busia, the Lake Basin Development Authority is promoting a farming model that links poultry, fish and pig farming. Waste from one part feeds the next, Citizen Digital reported. The aim is to create income and boost food security as growing towns leave less land for food.
Under strict biosecurity rules, poultry manure goes into fish ponds. There it helps zooplankton grow, and the fish feed on them. The nutrient-rich pond water then irrigates vegetable plots that feed both families and livestock. According to Citizen Digital, the model works especially well in crowded peri-urban areas.
Miriam Ojakol from Angoorom took up poultry farming with her father after months without a formal job. A string of losses nearly ended the venture, so she trained in modern poultry housing. She told Citizen TV that free-range birds pick up many diseases from other chickens.
In Malaba, Rebecca Odalo spent nearly three years struggling to raise chicks for sale. She lost 30 of one batch of 100, and she said a rat was to blame, not disease. She fitted wire mesh, blocked the rat routes and carried on with the remaining 70.
Odalo said a farmer does not need a big piece of land. Her chick house holds 2,000 birds, and shelves let her raise capacity beyond what floor space alone allows.
The 2024 KNBS Economic Survey put Kenya's poultry population at about 52 million birds. Most are indigenous chickens kept free-range by smallholders. Still, the country faces a yearly deficit of about 6,000 tonnes of poultry meat and five billion eggs, so it relies on imports.
To close the gap, the government runs the Wezesha agribusiness programme through public-private partnerships. At least 5,000 young people have trained in climate-smart farming over the past two years.
Wycliffe Ochiaga, named by Citizen Digital as IBDA managing director, said feed is the biggest cost. The authority is therefore working on cheaper feed for farmers, he said. Wezesha coordinator Philip Steve said the project wants to change the idea that farming is a dirty job. It also aims to help youth reach finance and markets.
The government has also set up a poultry technology transfer centre in Kisumu. It produces 300 trays of eggs a day for the local market.