Markets and poverty in northern Kenya: Towards a ... - FSD Kenya

38 • MARKETS AND POVERTY IN NORTHERN KENYA: TOWARDS A FINANCIAL GRADUATION MODEL
Value Chain Market opportunities Constraints Pro-poor potential Overall assessment
Hides and skins Growing competitiveness
of Kenyan processors, but
unclear opportunities for
northern Kenyan producers.
Opportunities and constraints: limited information on the market
prospects for hides and skins in Kenya makes it difficult to ascertain the
potential additional benefits that could accrue to northern Kenyan pastoralists.
While Kenyan processing industries that relied upon skins and hides suffered
following the withdrawal of protection after liberalisation (CARE International
Kenya, 2010: 14) exports of semi-processed and processed products (e.g.
leather, shoes) are now on the ascendency. This suggests the industry is
becoming increasingly competitive and may ultimately mean growing
demand for skin producers. However, the distribution of the benefits from this
trend is not clear, nor is the ability of producers in northern Kenya to benefit
versus other hides producers. A significant constraint for producers in northern
Kenya is the very poor quality of their skins. There are several causes. The
environment poses challenges: the many thorns in the ASALs grazing lands
cause significant damage to the skins. Poor branding and flaying practices
exacerbate the damage to the skin. Drying practices also lower quality: while
wet dried skins are strongly preferred by buyers and garner higher prices, most
producers sun-dry their skins and sell them for approximately half of the wet
dried price (Kagunyu et al, 2010: 814). Most pastoralists are not aware of
the grading system that rewards proper skin management. Other quality
deficiencies include small sized hides - given the poor health of many animals
- and the many defects in the hides (CARE International Kenya, 2010: 14).
Potential areas of intervention: additional research is required into the
potential benefits of the hides and skins value chains for people in northern
Kenya to assess whether the investments required in upgrading the quality of
skins would derive adequate benefits for producers, as significant investment
is required for hides and skins from the region to compete effectively.
Improving knowledge on hide management and drying practices (e.g. curing
practices such as wet salt curing, effective flaying and branding and avoiding
skin diseases) is clearly important. Just 12 to 30 per cent of pastoralists in
Marsabit, for instance, are aware of wet salt curing despite the relative ease
with which it can be adopted. Improving the availability and quality of animal
health services would help to address some of the most common problems,
including parasites and diseases (Kagunyu et al, 2010: 815). Improving
producers’ market knowledge would also help to increase the incentives for
skin management. Advocating to the government to lower cess taxes would
improve the competitive position of producers in the north. However, the
ability to address some constraints (e.g. poor animal nutrition and health)
may be very difficult and the return on those investments needs to be more
effectively assessed.
Fodder value chain
Background: the vast majority of livestock in northern Kenya graze on
rain-fed pasture. However, around well-watered and urban areas such as in
Mandera on the border with Somalia and Ethiopia, fodder is produced and
sold. (Nyangaga, 2009: 6). In that area, approximately 2,000 agro-pastoralists
sell fodder to as many as 30,000 urban and peri-urban livestock holders
(ibid.).
Opportunities and constraints: the increasing variability of rainfall
is causing some pastoralists to settle closer to irrigated fodder producers to
better manage risk (ibid: 7). This is increasing the demand for fodder where it
is produced and encouraging other farmers to increase their own production of
fodder. Though there are areas that can support production, the availability of
water is a critical limitation to the expansion and sustainability of this activity
across most of northern Kenya. In the Mandera area, farmers complain that
rivers are becoming shallower, threatening continued fodder production.
The opportunity for expansion of the fodder value chain in northern Kenya is
therefore limited to areas with adequate water availability.
Potential areas of intervention : identify areas of northern Kenya with
the potential to produce fodder. Link farmers to needed services (e.g. technical
knowledge, inputs, finance) that support production.
Value Chain Market opportunities Constraints Pro-poor potential Overall assessment
Fodder Growing market in the north
due to urbanisation.
Table 9: Hides and skins value chain
Low quality of skins from
northern Kenya.
Improper drying techniques.
Table 10: Fodder value chain
Employment in primary
processing.
Service provision to the
livestock industry (e.g.
paravets).
Limited water Casual labour on farms.
Sale of fodder.
Unclear.
Low / Medium