By Okong’o Oduya
Busia County is said to have a shortage of 68 million kilograms of milk, this was noted during World Food Day Celebrations. celebrated the World Food Day on Sunday with revelations that the County has a milk shortage of 68 million kilograms.
Speaking at Nakhakina village in Busibwabo Ward, Alfred Makokha, County Livestock Officer, the projected milk production in the county in 2016 was 12.5m Kg against the county demand of 80m kg.
He noted that the population of dairy cattle in the county is 17,800 with the average milk production of 6-8 litres per cow per day, a situation he said as a county they are working hard to improve.
“Our target is to improve milk production from 10 litres/cow/day in the long run, the milk deficit in the county is being plugged up by milk supply from neighboring counties of Uasin Gishu, Nandi, Nakuru and Uganda,” He Said.
According to him the County Government will avail 35 dairy cattle to each ward to make sure what they plan become effective .He says that the number might increase to two or three per ward in the next financial year.
Samson Achina, County Director of Agriculture said the county government will introduce soil testing devices to determine whether the soils in the county are favorable for farming to increase food production. He noted that the county will avail lime if the tests prove positive. Besides that Achina said the county government will supply farmers with macadamia, tissue culture bananas, grafted mangoes and water melon seedlings and traditional vegetables to increase food production.
Carolyn Kuedho, Chief Officer Agriculture, said they will go back to the physical strategy paper to consider other options like irrigation and greenhouses instead of relying wholly on rain that has been poor this year.
“The concerns raised by farmers are genuine. The rain has let us down. We need to find an alternative so that when rains fail we don’t have food shortage in the county. We have already requisitioned for fertilizer and seeds so that farmers can get the farm inputs in time. We are also availing fuel in good time so that farmers can plough their farms in time,” She said.
However, Kuedho challenged farmers to embrace modern farming methods to increase food production a measure she said will beef up food security in the county. The theme of this year’s World Food Day was: “Climate is changing. Food and Agriculture Must Too.”
Various farmers exhibited their produce including, coffee planting and processing, traditional vegetables, chapati and Mandazi made from pumpkin floor, peanut butter, grounds nuts, soya beans and flour, Cheda made from millet flour, crisps made from sweet potatoes, porridge from millet among others. Aquaculture, Western and Kenya Seed are also on display.
