Kenya will dramatically transform in the coming decades. In a business as usual scenario, the Kenyan population is expected to reach 96 million by 2050, from about 46 million today, and the size of the economy to more than quadruple. Kenya Vision 2030 aims to ensure that the transformations in the years ahead will be inclusive and sustainable, “to transform Kenya into a newly-industrialising, middle income country providing a high quality of life to all its citizens in a clean and secure environment". The Vision identifies Agriculture and Livestock as priority sectors for investment and transformation.

Within the framework of the Agricultural Sector and Transformation and Growth Strategy, a variety of policies and strategies guide investments and interventions in the livestock sector, such as 2008 National Livestock Policy, the 2016 Veterinary Policy, the 2013 National Environmental Policy, the 2012 Policy for Arid and Semiarid Areas and the 2017 National Policy on Prevention and Containment of Antimicrobial Resistance. Even though with different resource envelopes, priorities, timeframes and perspectives, all these policies aim at supporting a sustainable development of the livestock sector. In the long-term, however, the growth and transformation of the livestock might also result in negative public health, environmental and social outcomes because of a variety of unknown and unpredictable factors shaping its development trajectory.

The Kenya Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Irrigation, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Environment and Forestry and the FAO Africa Sustainable Livestock 2050 Initiative have joined forces to generate evidence to support decisions for a sustainable development of livestock in the long-term. A National Steering Committee, comprising representatives of the partnering ministries, leads a multi-disciplinary and multi-stakeholder process to:

• Characterize the current livestock production systems and generate evidence on their impact on public health, the environment and livelihoods.
• Formulate long-term (2050) livestock scenarios to anticipate livestock-related emerging opportunities and challenges for Kenyan society.
• Identify actionable policy reforms to implement today that, by complementing current policies and strategies, will enhance the country capacity to cope with the possible emergence and spread of zoonotic diseases and antimicrobial resistance; to deal with the potential negative impact of livestock on the environment and climate change; and to improve the livelihoods and food security of the future generations.