John Ewoi, 35, looks straight at us and then breaks into a broad smile, baffled by our question. “The abattoir will bring immense benefits to us as pastoralists.
I am a pastoralist and a businessman. I sell goats,” Ewoi says as he looks after his livestock in Isiolo. He has never known any other source of livelihood aside from the livestock – sheep, goats and cattle – he keeps and sells.
For over a decade now, he has sold his livestock at Isiolo market but feels the prices are low. “A mature cow is currently selling at Sh35,000 and a goat is Sh3,500.
That should not be their price. A mature goat should fetch Sh9,000,” he tells us. Ewoi, from Kiwanja village in Ngare Mara ward, Isiolo North, has 24 cows and bulls, six calves and 120 goats. “That is my source of income. I depend on them. If the abattoir is opened, it will help me so much.”
Ewoi is among thousands of livestock keepers who have pegged their hope on the modern Isiolo export abattoir to turn around their lives. The county government is rushing to complete the facility, whose construction started 17 years ago.
“We are told they will pay us depending on the weight of the animal. That is unlike now, when the buyer pays based on what he observes after just touching the animal,” Ewoi said.
The multimillion-shilling project is expected to be a game changer for herders not only in Isiolo but also in the neighbouring counties of Marsabit, Samburu, Wajir and Garissa.
Ethiopia and Somalia are also in the abattoir’s catchment area. County chief officer for agriculture and irrigation Godana Dida said the project is 99 per cent complete, with all the internal works already done.
“Some 80 per cent of residents of Isiolo and the neighbouring counties – Marsabit, Wajir, Garissa and Samburu – are livestock keepers. With this abattoir, the market for their animals is a done deal,” Dida said.
The abattoir boasts capacity to slaughter more than 2,800 livestock daily.
“For Isiolo abattoir, the fact that the county is centrally placed and her neighbours are also livestock keepers means demand and supply of these livestock products will be available,” he said.
The project has gobbed up close to Sh1 billion – co-funded by the county and the World Bank – since its initiation 17 years ago.
“The county government has so far invested Sh412 million in the abattoir. The World Bank contributed Sh451 million. We are now working on the other component of external works,” Dida said.
The county is currently sourcing Sh280 million to complete the external works – road network, landscaping, construction of an extra gate and a feedlot.
“Last week, I was in Nairobi with my governor mobilising resources to complete the work that was not part of the original contract,” he said.
Besides providing a ready market for livestock, the slaughterhouse will create about 300 direct jobs for the residents, catalyse the growth of ancillary industries and transform the economy of Isiolo and the entire northern region.
“This abattoir cannot operate alone. There is an aspect of the feedlot that should be ready by the time the abattoir is ready. The feedlot is just a few kilometers from here,” Dida said.
“We have already drilled boreholes. We have done the troughs. What is remaining is landscaping and clearing of the land. Fodder production is also pending. We have sent a proposal to the World Bank to come in and help us.”
In addition, the county has invited potential investors to run the
facility. Already, two international
firms from America and Botswana
have expressed interest.
