Poultry production and marketing for Kalobeyei refugees
Poultry production is the main livestock-based livelihood for refugees in Kakuma and Kalobeyei. It is a source of food, cash, and nutrition that is relied on at the household level. FAO through the European Union Emergency Trust Fund (EUTF)-funded Enhancing Self-Reliance for Refugees and Host Communities in Kenya (ESRH) project in partnership with the Turkana County Department of Livestock Production identified over 1,200 refugee households in Kalobeyei to benefit from poultry production activities.
This support included 14 Community-Based Facilitators (CBFs) trained to promote livestock production and trade in Kalobeyei. A total of 533 households received six chickens each, most of which multiplied, enhancing their access to meat, eggs, income, and manure for their kitchen gardens.
Through this project two poultry production units were established, and each stocked with 600 chicks. In addition, the units were supplied with poultry production equipment and feeds. Using the Farmer Field School (FFS) approach, poultry farmers received assorted training on poultry production systems, feed formulation, disease control and management, marketing, and nutrition benefits.
Poultry keeping has been widely adopted and the number of poultry farmers has risen over 3,200 refugee households in the Kalobeyei settlement adopting poultry keeping as a livelihood.
Poultry units in Kalobeyei are also points for learning for emerging poultry producers and households and school-going children following the reintroduction of agriculture in the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC). Poultry farming has enabled refugees to improve their access to cash and food diversity, contribute to their children's education, and purchase seeds for their kitchen gardens. The EUTF-funded project has so far supplied 10,000 improved indigenous chickens (KALRO Kienyeji) to the Kalobeyei settlement and promoted poultry farming in the Kakuma camp, especially among the crop farming households supported by FAO. While the chicken supplied and produced in Kalobeyei has immensely benefited the project-targeted households, it has also transferred superior genes for the upgrade of the local chicken breeds.
There have been several successful cases of refugees in Kalobeyei building their livelihoods through EUTF projects implemented by FAO. One of them is a 46-year-old Mr. Buchumi, a refugee from Burundi who arrived in the Kalobeyei community in 2016. When he fled Burundi to seek asylum, he could not bring his family, which included his wife and five children, but he continues to support them back home. He worked as a Boda Boda (motorcycle) taxi rider and wage labourer at construction sites in Kalobeyei before he was selected as a beneficiary of the EUTF project for Refugee and Host Community Self-Reliance. In 2022, Mr. Buchumi was one of the 533 households in the Kalobeyei settlement that received six chickens and starter feed from FAO where his poultry rearing skills were enriched through the Farmer Field School programme.
Mr. Buchumi cared for his improved chickens which matured to give his family eggs, meat and income. For his kitchen garden, he uses manure from his chicken yard. He is a mentor to families who are passionate about chicken farming. Despite successes recorded by poultry-keeping households in the Kalobeyei settlement, the main challenges to poultry farming include limited and expensive feed and medicine, insufficient water for chickens especially during dry periods, inadequate production equipment, and irregular immunization and treatment services. Nonetheless, Mr. Buchumi believes that poultry farming presents a significant possibility for food, income, and nutrition security in refugee and host community households in Kakuma and Kalobeyei.
For more information contact:-
Joseph Othieno
National Communications Specialist
FAO Kenya
Email: [email protected]
Or
Ekiru Francis
Field School Master Trainer
Email: [email protected]