By Ebi Kesiena
Dr. Erick Rutto, President of the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, has unveiled China’s annual demand for 9 million liters of camel milk from Kenya, emphasizing the significant opportunity it presents for livestock farmers in northern Kenya.
Speaking during the luncheon of the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s four-year strategic plan for the Garissa Chapter recently, Rutto encouraged the camel dairy farmers to tap into China’s ready market.
He urged the county governments in northern Kenya to invest in supporting the local camel milk dairy farmers to enable them to venture into the global camel dairy market in China and other countries.
“This will help the Kenya camel milk dairy farmers receive Sh5.2 billion annually from China,” he revealed.
According to Rutto, the global demand for livestock products was increasing as he further announced Oman’s demand for 500 tonnes of blackhead sheep meat from Kenya, amounting to Sh8.1 billion.
“The global demand for livestock products is an opportunity we need to tap into, we are still looking for opportunities to link both the local livestock and crop farmers to the international market,” Dr Rutto said.
He called upon the Garissa Chapter to implement the strategic plan that targets to recruit at least 10,000 members, attract investors and increase business opportunities among them.
He also mentioned plans by the KNCCI in partnership with Mastercard to launch a Shariah-complaint Sacco that will provide loans to the business community.
Responding, the Yemeni Ambassador to Kenya Abdul Salam Al-Awadi who attended the luncheon said Yemen was also ready to partner with Kenya on business opportunities in the livestock sector.
He said the county’s Department of Trade and Investment was ready to work with the Garissa KNCCI chapter towards the successful implementation of the strategic plan.
The 350 million four-year plan strategy launched is supported by USAID, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the Agricultural Cooperative Development International/Volunteers in Overseas Cooperative Assistance (ACDI/VOCA).
