Nyandarua County has launched a dairy and pyrethrum value chain improvement programmes.
The dairy programme is founded on three-pronged interventions that address animal breeds, animal health management, and feeding and nutrition.
Governor Kiarie Badilisha flagged off motorcycles and artificial insemination kits to each of the county’s 25 wards which a qualified Animal Health Assistant will man. The AI program will be rolled out through farmers’ cooperative societies and is expected to improve dairy breeds, health and milk yield. It also includes distributing super nappier cuttings to farmers.
For the pyrethrum once Nyandarua’s cash crop, the programme aims to accelerate its uptake and cultivation in the wake of rising global demand for organic pesticides and products. Towards this, the county government is also distributing pyrethrum seedlings to farmers. To ensure sustainability, the programme seeks to work with cooperative societies and organized farmers’ groups.
“This is more than transforming the dairy sector, or anchoring pyrethrum as an industrial cash crop for the people of Nyandarua, it is about putting money into the pockets of our farmers, it’s about transforming lives,” said Governor Dr Moses Kiarie Badilisha at Oljororok Stadium while launching the initiatives. He added that pyrethrum growing is providing an alternative source of income to farmers in the country who most rely on potato farming, and horticulture among others.
