The West Pokot government has partnered with the state to vaccinate livestock to improve the quality of meat.
The partnership is part of measures being put in place to ensure the products meet international standards.
The aim is to avoid restrictions in accessing international markets.
County livestock officer Andrew Kitalai said that have issued vaccines to protect their livestock from three major diseases.
“Foot and mouth, Peste des petits ruminants (PPR), and pneumonia are major diseases that affect our cattle and goats,” Kitalai said.
Agriculture and Livestock executive Geoffrey Lipale said the Nasukuta abattoir is almost complete, so there was a need to ensure meat from the slaughterhouse is disease-free.
“Nasukuta slaughterhouse is going to be among the biggest abattoirs in the country. It is currently 70 per cent complete. We don’t want to invest in the project then later be barred from exporting our meat products,” he said.
The abattoir is expected to be ready for use in March.
Lipale thanked the national government for partnering with farmers and educating them on how to rear healthy animals.
He said the diseases can only be controlled through vaccination and asked farmers to always avail their animals for the jabs.
Edited by P.O
