The government has been urged to cut taxes on poultry feed production and agricultural machinery to reduce the cost of eggs and attract investors into Kenya’s poultry sector.
Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KNCCI) National Director Ken Onditi made the call during a joint meeting on Monday, October 27, to announce a partnership between the KNCCI and a South African firm to bridge the gap in egg production in the country.
According to Onditi, the government's focus should be on creating an enabling environment for those who conduct business, and waiving taxes would incentivise investors to focus on production.
“Government does not do business; its role is to create an enabling environment for those who do. Waiving taxes and offering incentives will allow investors to focus on production, value addition, and food security,” he said.
Kenya currently produces approximately four billion eggs annually, reportedly leaving a national deficit of five billion eggs, which is mostly filled through imports.
To address the gap, KNCCI entered into a new partnership with a South African agri-investment firm to boost local production. This will be achieved mostly through the introduction of modern farming technologies.
From the deal, investors, through Nouvelle Blooms Ltd, are set to access over 1.8 million acres of government land under the Agricultural Development Corporation (ADC) for large-scale farming, particularly for feeds like yellow maize, which is critical for poultry feed formulation.
Previously, Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe admitted the only way to increase the production of foods such as eggs was through adopting science-based farming decisions.
“We need more information from the scientists, and the information that is communicated must make sense. When you don’t communicate that information, it is akin to winking in the dark.”
Kagwe added, “Why should we be importing eggs? I hear Kenchic is the main importer, and I will engage with them so that we address this. Anything we are importing as food, we must make sure we are not doing that."
Megan Wilson, a representative of the South African consortium hoping to infiltrate Kenya, said a partnership provided a huge opportunity to emulate South Africa’s successful poultry production model in Kenya.
South Africa is a major producer of eggs in Africa, and at one point in the last decade, the country was among the top five producers in Africa.
Interestingly, President William Ruto is also passionate about poultry farming, which is one of his many lucrative income streams. The President has a well-known chicken farming enterprise at the heart of his native Uasin Gishu County, where he rears approximately 200,000 chickens.
