The rising cost of production in farming is pushing away tens of dairy and poultry farmers in Nakuru County from the market.
This has been worsened by a drop in the price of the end products and the Covid-19 pandemic which saw the farmers incur huge losses.
The farmers are now appealing to the government to subsidize farm inputs and feeds as one way of supporting the sector that employs millions in the country.
This came as it emerged that the prices of poultry and dairy feeds had shot up by over 60 percent since the year began with fears that this could rise further in the coming days.
According to a dairy farmer Samuel Wainaina from Lanet, dairy farming was becoming harder by the day due to the soaring cost of feed.
He added that this had been worsened by the shrinking land sizes which was making it hard to get pastures forcing the farmers to rely on zero-grazing which was very expensive.
“Currently hay is going for Sh200 per bale from Sh100 while the price of dairy-meal has shot to Sh50 per kilogramme and this is negatively affecting the farmers,” he said.
The retired research officer noted that the only way in supporting farmers lay in the government introducing subsidies for various farm inputs.
He added that despite the rise in the farm i
nputs and feeds, the cost of milk had not changed for years forcing farmers to incur more losses.
“The cost of diesel has skyrocketed, meaning a rise in the cost of production while farmers have to deal with other needs like veterinary care,” he said.
A poultry farmer Auxiliary Akinyi said that the prices of poultry feed were rising by the week forcing many farmers to close shop.
She said that this had been worsened by brokers who were buying eggs at low prices despite the high cost of production that the farmers were incurring.
“We have been told that the prices of poultry feeds are high because the raw materials are sourced from Uganda and Tanzania and this is hurting the farmer,” she said.
On her part Elizabeth Muthoni who operates an agrovet shop said that they had been forced to increase their prices after their suppliers reviewed upwards the cost of all products.
“Our sales have also gone down as farmers are keeping away due to the rising cost of assorted farm inputs and feeds in the last one year,” she said.