The government has distributed 1000 sexed semen to the Meru Cooperative Union farmers in a bid to boost the dairy sector in the region.
The initiative is meant to improve the quality of the breed and increase milk production.
Meru Governor Isaac Mutuma lauded President William Ruto for honouring the promises he made to dairy farmers during the 10th Meru Dairy Farmers Field Day.
He said the efforts are already transforming the Meru’s dairy sector.
Speaking during the launch of the distribution of subsidized sexed semen and livestock vaccines by the Kenya Animal Genetic Resource Centre (KAGRC), Governor Mutuma said such initiatives directly tackle the challenges farmers raised with the president during the event.
Among the biggest challenges, he noted, were the high cost of animal feeds and livestock diseases such as foot and mouth disease, which affect productivity.
Mutuma said the national government had acted quickly to help.
“The first challenge we said is that of dairy feeds, and the president is helping us to come up with our own fodder industry to make our feeds. We have also received 15,000 doses of vaccines, and vaccination efforts have already begun,” he said.
Mutuma pointed out another challenge raised during the 10th Dairy Farmers Field Day which was frequent result of male calves through artificial insemination, which he said limited milk production.
He expressed his gratitude to President Ruto for fulfilling his promise.
“We had informed President Ruto that another problem we have is sexed semen. Most of the time we inseminate the animal, we end up receiving a male breed. He promised to support us with sexed semen as Meru farmers. Today the promise that the president made to help us get sexed semen for our animals is being fulfilled,” he said.
Mutuma also highlighted that in 2023, President Ruto fulfilled his promise by allocating Sh100 million to support the sector, a sum that was confirmed by the union’s management.
He added that the President had pledged to add an additional Sh100 million for further development.
He stressed that these achievements wouldn’t have been possible without working closely with the national government.
“There are certain standards that we as the county government cannot reach until we have cooperation with the national government. If it wasn’t for the cooperation and relationship between Meru farmers and the President of the Republic, today we wouldn’t have sexed semen for Sh 1,400 while in the market it goes for Sh 7,000 and Sh 8,000,” said Mutuma
Shifting his attention to the recent Sabasaba protests, Mutuma questioned why anyone would attack projects built through years of sacrifice, referring to the attempted attack on the Meru Central Dairy Union plant.
“I don’t know who is that enemy that you wanted to punish by destroying our own economy by destroying this plant. We have sweated so much to build only for it to be destroyed in one day,” noted Mutuma.
He urged those who oppose the government to communicate their concerns peacefully rather than through violence, warning that destruction only deepens the struggles of ordinary Kenyans.
“There is a better way of communicating what we want to tell His Excellency on the governance of the day. Destroying only lands us into more trouble,” he advised.
Mutuma called on farmers and all Kenyans to set aside divisive politics and focus on solutions and development.
