The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has conducted a mid-term review of the Kenya Livestock Commercialization Project (KeLCoP) in Kakamega County to identify and address challenges and gaps in its implementation.
The Country Director Mariatu Kamara who spoke during a visit to Tropical Spring Youth Group in Lumakanda location, in Lugari Sub County, acknowledged the support and commitment of county government officers at the grassroots level towards implementation of KeLCoP activities.
She said there is a need to accelerate improvement in the execution of the various projects by identifying and addressing the existing gaps through adoption of innovative approaches to allocation of funds, implementation and monitoring for maximum benefit.
She said, “We are on a mid-term review mission to see what KeLCoP has done over the years since its inception and how to strengthen the program.
“When you have a program that is running for six years, at the midpoint, it is always important to check whether what you are doing is the right thing, whether the communities are being supported well, whether what we had agreed at is what is being achieved or whether we need to change certain things just to ensure we have maximum benefits to the community,” she said.
She lauded the youth group for choosing to engage in agricultural activities, shunned by a majority of the youthful population noting that their main idea is to attract most of them into the agriculture sector.
KeLCoP is a Government of Kenya-funded program through a loan from IFAD, aimed at enhancing the commercialization of the country’s livestock sector and improving the livelihoods of small-scale livestock farmers.
Kakamega County Chief Officer for Livestock Jessica Wesonga lauded IFAD for the KeLCoP initiative saying it is already transforming the livelihoods of the benefiting communities.
She said her department will take stock of the mid-term review process to identify and build on what is working and adopt better strategies where challenges have been met.
She lauded Tropical Spring Youth Group for opting to venture into commercial beekeeping for maximum benefits.
“As a group you have done so well and the future is bright. Please keep up. We shall be delivering to you an additional 170 beehives through KeLCoP by August.
“For the Kenya Bureau of Standards license I will link you up with four county directors who have a direct link to them so that they can fast-track the certification process of your honey products,” she stated.
Tropical Spring Youth Group chairman Clinton Imbwenya appreciated KeLCoP for kick-starting their beekeeping commercialization journey which targets to have 3500 beehives by 2027.
He said their beekeeping initiative faced a myriad of challenges before the coming in of KeLCoP with the main one being low honey production.
Imbwenya said, “Initially our output was very low because we lacked the technical know-how in regard to beekeeping. However, after we heard about KeLCoP we decided as a group to engage it.”
“They took us through the initial process of coming up with an action plan and how to boost honey production. After the training they gave us 30 beehives, the harvesting gear and the processing equipment,” said Ibwenya.
He added: “Initially we had 120 beehives but now we have moved to 412 after KeLCoP imparted to us beehive-making skills. Currently, we have two apiaries capable of holding 120 and 375 beehives, respectively.”
He appealed to KeLCoP to offer them benchmarking opportunities where they can learn from other successful groups practising apiculture in readiness for large-scale production.
The 20-member group which started in 2019 following the Covid-19 outbreak also practices aquaculture, poultry farming and vegetable growing aimed at community transformation through sustainable agribusiness.
By Melechezedeck Ejakait and Brenda Wabwire
