The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development has rolled out the Animal Identification and Traceability System (ANITRAC) in a move aimed at opening up the lucrative international export markets for Kenya’s livestock products.
According to Agriculture Cabinet Secretary, Mutahi Kagwe, the program will also ensure that Kenya complies with international sanitary and phyto-sanitary standards demanded by the premium meat market.
He noted that without a traceability mechanism, Kenyan meat remains invisible to premium buyers, denying it the prices at the world’s lucrative meat markets.
“The modern meat consumer wants to know more than whether meat is safe. They want to know where that animal was born, where it grazed, which veterinary officer treated it, which vaccines it received, which medicines were administered, which abattoir processed it and which laboratory certified it. That level of transparency is no longer optional; it is becoming the global standard and explains why Kenya is accelerating implementation of ANITRAC,” said Kagwe.
The CS said that the digital platform will create a credible livestock database that will support monitoring of livestock movement, strengthen disease surveillance, and facilitate export certification in the meat value chain.
While noting that the government had initially faced resistance from individuals involved in livestock theft, Kagwe said that the program will significantly restore security in pastoral areas by reducing cases of cattle rustling.
“Honestly, banditry is going to end and one of the reasons it is going to end is because of technology. Once you are on ANITRAC it doesn’t matter whether the animal crosses into Uganda or whether you are moving it from one clan to another, we will find it,” said Kagwe.
Kagwe who spoke in Nyeri during the Kenya Meat Conference also expressed confidence that ANITRAC would unlock financing opportunities for livestock farmers by allowing livestock to be recognized as verifiable assets.
He at the same time challenged financial institutions to develop products tailored for the livestock sector instead of the conventional lending models.
“One of the other reasons the livestock industry has not had financing is because I can walk into a bank and claim I have 100 animals, but I have no way of verifying this information. But with ANITRAC you are able to walk into a bank and show the livestock that you own. At any one time you know where they are and you can geographically locate them so it becomes a bankable asset,” said the CS.
Animal Identification and Traceability System (ANITRAC) is a digital platform and mobile application that is designed to uniquely identify livestock through an electronic ear-tag.
The electronic tag can trace all the activities in the life of the animal from birth, vaccination, breed, movement, slaughter and export. The collection of this data is uploaded to national database using a mobile phone application.
Similar livestock identification and traceability systems have been implemented in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Rwanda, Tanzania and Ethiopia.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, the program is targeting the over 22 million cattle in the country.
The program will first be rolled out in Siaya, Kiambu, Taita Taveta, Garissa, Kitui and Narok counties before being cascaded to the remaining 41 counties.
By Wangari Mwangi
