Kirinyaga farmers get 86,000 improved kienyeji chicks

Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru on Friday gave out 86,000 improved kienyeji chicks for distribution to 77 farmers groups across the county.

The chicks will boost the ongoing poultry project in which farmers’ groups are supported to produce at least one million eggs in a month.

Out of these chicks, 54,000 will go to 45 newly recruited groups which will each receive 1,200 chicks.

The remaining 32,000 chicks will be given as restocking brood for 32 pre-existing groups, each which will receive 1,000 chicks.

The governor handed over the chicks for Kagumo-ini A Self Help Group in Mwea.

She said egg production is one of the projects that the county government is funding farmers to undertake, in order to increase their agricultural production and incomes.

“The mass egg production project aims at improving the livelihoods of Kirinyaga people, by providing alternative income streams thereby reducing over-reliance on conventional cash crop farming,” Waiguru said.

She added that the groups will also receive free quality chicken feeds from the county’s Kiaga animal feeds factory for six months and thereafter access the same feeds at a subsidised cost.

To guarantee returns for the project, the governor said that once the eggs are harvested, they are collected and taken to the storage facility at Kiaga.

The eggs will then be packaged and branded before being marketed on behalf of the farmers by Kirinyaga Investment Development Authority.

She pointed out that through Wezesha Kirinyaga programme, her administration is currently supporting more than 300 farmers groups to diversify agricultural activities.

The projects include poultry keeping, avocado, tomato, dairy and fish farming, pig rearing as well as bee keeping.

Kagumo-ini A Self Help Group chair Harrison Muturi thanked the county government for providing them with chicks and assured the county that they would work hard in the project.

“We will see to it that this project becomes successful because it is for our own benefit.

"We want to assure the governor that we will not sleep on the job. Just like other groups have maintained theirs, ours will be better because we are rearing improved breeds,” Muturi said.

(Edited by Bilha Makokha)