Farmers up in arms over ongoing sale of livestock by KALRO

Farmers across the country are up in arms over the ongoing sale of livestock by the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) terming the exercise as skewed and marred with irregularities.

The livestock farmers have petitioned the CS for Agriculture to intervene, noting that they had undergone untold suffering during the annual sale across the country.

In the last one month, all the research stations in the country have been selling various varieties of livestock and poultry as they were no longer necessary for their research.

Drama unfolded at the KARLO center in Naivasha as the irate traders were locked out of the sale as nearly all the breeding bulls had been sold to one farmer in Transmara Narok.

According to one of the farmers Paul Ole Koilel, local farmers had for years been locked out of the sale for a few individuals who were well connected.

While calling on the CS to intervene, he noted that the research institution was no longer beneficial to local farmers due to the skewed sale plan.

“The sale is meant to benefit farmers from Nakuru, Narok, Kajiado and Laikipia but unfortunately all the bulls have been sold to one farmer in Transmara,” he said.

On the disputed national vaccination of livestock, he said that the exercise was marred with misinformation and politics adding that the State should engage farmers better.

This was echoed by James Were who said that the unfair practice had been going on for the last ten years thus locking out other livestock farmers.

“We came here with the required cash only to learn that some powerful people in the country had driven away all the quality breeds,” he said.

On his part, Daniel Kireison from Gilgil noted that the national institution should support all farmers without taking sides during such exercise.

“This is one of the reasons livestock farmers are rejecting the planned national livestock vaccination as government exercises are marred with fraud,” he said.

However, a senior KALRO officer who declined to be named denied the allegations noting that the exercise was open to all despite the limited number of livestock on sale.

“This is an annual event where we dispose of research breeds to farmers and at times the numbers are low and in the process some miss out,” said the officer.

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