Makueni Dairy and Apiculture Farmers to Receive Support from the World Bank

Makueni farmers have prioritized the dairy and apiculture(bee-keeping) value chains to receive financial support for market access and value addition under the National Agricultural Value Chain Development Project (NAVCDP)-a new World Bank-funded project.

In the just concluded 2-day public participation process to select two additional value chains to be considered for funding by the World Bank, dairy and apiculture value chains were adopted by the farmers.

 

NAVCDP is a scale-up of NARIGP, and its overall goal is to increase market participation and enhance value addition for smallholder farmers who are either in transition or have transitioned from subsistence to commercial farming.

 

According to the majority of the farmers, in a list of seven value chains, dairy and apiculture have the highest growth potential in both domestic and export markets. The value chains also have the highest potential for expansion in productivity in the county.

 

Other criteria for value chain selection included the potential for inclusivity of the vulnerable groups and nutrition sensitivity.

 

The countywide public participation exercise was spearheaded by the County Department of Agriculture, Irrigation, Livestock, Fisheries, and Cooperative Development.