Firm up Livestock Bill to secure livelihoods

This story has significance for readers across Kenya and beyond.

When the Livestock Bill 2024 was introduced to the National Assembly in June 2024, it was a milestone that, among other things, left indigenous peoples, especially pastoralists expectant considering that the piece of legislation, if enacted promised better livelihoods.

The Bill covers regulations, inputs and products, research and capacity building, establishment of training institutes and access to veterinary services. But it was withdrawn from the House for lacking critical voices and booked for public participation as a way of firming it up.

Unfortunately, two years after the withdrawal, the proposed law has yet to be taken for public participation, further hurting possibility of delivering a water-tight law. While Kenya lacks clear steps to public participation, it is possible that the two-year lull will distract stakeholders, who may have moved to other priorities.

Among other gaps, the Bill ignored the voices of pastoralists and other indigenous peoples as is enshrined in the Constitution.

Critically, 70 percent of the country’s livestock population is in the hands of pastoralists in the arid and semi-arid counties, meaning failing to address their concerns will leave a key constituency hamstrung. In Kenya, livestock sector contributes close to 4.4 percent of GDP while employing about 50 percent of the workers in agriculture.

Herders have, for years, articulated the urgency for their recognition and inclusion in development and policy making in different fora This recognition, which in the foregoing processes, the government as acknowledged, should be seen to be implemented in the current Livestock Bill 2024.

As stakeholders wait for public participation, we assess some of the areas that our review shows need a retouch, to especially secure the rights of indigenous peoples, including pastoralists, before the Bill returns to the House for debate.

The right place to start is what the Constitution of Kenya, 2010, divides functions between counties and national government. Among others, crop and animal husbandry, livestock sale, county abattoirs, plant and animal disease control, and fisheries are functions of county governments while the national government takes care of agriculture and veterinary policies.

This being a national Bill, the provision for the Livestock Inputs and Products Regulatory Authority to hire compliance officers is usurpation of the functions of the county governments. The Bill, therefore, should only provide capacity building at the national level to ensure the county officers play their roles without territory conflicts.

There is also need for compliance officers to work together with veterinary officers at the counties for a more effective monitoring of the sub-counties and wards, benefiting from the knowledge of local experts and the pastoralists.

The Bill should also provide for retaining and capacity building of local community expertise, tapping into indigenous knowledge to support the production and use of natural resources in livestock inputs and enhancing of livestock products.

Critically, the Bill does not define who the livestock farmer is. It is possible that this gap and other reasons must have given room for limited representation of the livestock farmers on the various Boards provided in the Bill. Since livestock inputs and products mean a lot for pastoralists and other peasants, the Bill should support efforts to secure the right of livestock farmers.

Therefore, this piece of legislation should ensure access to means of production, including tools, technical assistance, credit, insurance and other financial services, as well as traditional ways of farming, fishing, livestock rearing and forestry while developing community-based commercialisation systems.

Pertaining to veterinary services, the Bill excludes from its application medicines and dairy industry, saying they are regulated under the Veterinary Surgeons and Veterinary Para-Professionals Act and the Dairy Industry Act in that order.

But, because rearing of livestock and livestock products depend on the services of veterinary officers, including local expertise, they ought to be part of the Bill since they are actively involved in control of animal movement, disease surveillance and treatment.

What should, however, be midwifed carefully is aligning the Bill with existing laws because there are cross-cutting issues.

A careful assessment of the Bill shows many roles will remain with the national government, ignoring the fact that agriculture is a devolved function. Instead of this apparent exclusion, there should be a way of collaboration to effectively monitor the sector.

Since most small-scale farmers rear livestock for domestic use and only sell on emergency, the Bill needs to define what commercial rearing entails so as not to prejudice small players selling during uncertainties, including drought that decimates stocks. It is known that fast selling during drought is one of the ways of reducing losses and preparing for restocking, thus securing livelihoods.

For livestock farming to make sense, security is a key consideration, especially against the backdrop of cattle rustling and theft. Although movement permits are issued, they have not delivered the desired results and it is the right time to cure the ailment using this Bill by introducing a security clause to the disease control and animal movement regulations.

It should be a requirement that a farmer or livestock dealer obtain a letter from the local administration, particularly from the community security surveillance system, before applying for animal movement permits. This will significantly curb animal theft and movement of stolen livestock.

This Bill should lead to the establishment of livestock training institutes in the pastoralist regions.

So far, Kenya has animal health and industry training institutes in Kabete and Nyahururu; meat training institute in Athi River; a dairy training centre in Naivasha; and, a livestock training institute in Wajir.

The above list shows most pastoralist counties that are majorly arid and semi-arid are not covered. Therefore, the Bill should guide the establishment of at least one livestock training institute in every county or a sub-region, especially in the ASALs and counties that hold most reared animals to enhance breeding.

Nyang’ori is Team Lead, Centre for Minority Rights Development (Cemiride).

Reporting originally appeared via Business Daily. Read the full source for additional context.