AWARFA Kenya’s First Major Contract with Kuzuri Farm Promises Consistent Feed Supply and Livestock Growth

This week, AWARFA Kenya signed a landmark contract with Kuzuri Farm, marking a significant step toward ensuring a steady and reliable supply of feed ingredients to the farm. The contract was signed by Sophie Macharia, Director of Kuzuri Farm, which manages over 70 animals, including 50 dairy cows producing milk daily. Kuzuri Farm supplies milk to meat product manufacturers and requires a constant and organized supply of feed and fodder to maintain high production levels. This agreement guarantees Kuzuri Farm a consistent supply of dry feed ingredients, addressing critical challenges livestock farmers face in Kenya and enhancing the commercialisation of feed and fodder in the region.

To strengthen the supply chain, AWARFA Kenya has collaborated with AWARFA Uganda to source and supply feed ingredients. This cross-border partnership will enable the dispatch of the first truckload of feed ingredients by the end of May 2025, ensuring timely delivery and bridging supply gaps that have long plagued the livestock sector in Kenya. 

This contract between Kuzuri Farm and AWARFA Kenya is expected to fill critical gaps in feed supply timelines and provide a reliable expectation of 150,000 tonnes of feed ingredients.

Kenya’s livestock farmers have been grappling with severe feed shortages, largely driven by prolonged droughts from 2020 to 2023 that devastated pasture and fodder availability. The persistent drought has led to a 60% feed deficit nationally, causing skyrocketing feed prices and threatening the livelihoods of millions of farmers. Many have faced the harsh reality of losing livestock or reducing herd sizes due to inadequate nutrition. The scarcity and unreliability of local feed markets have made it difficult for farmers like those at Kuzuri Farm to secure consistent feed supplies, undermining production and economic stability. The contract between AWARFA Kenya and Kuzuri Farm directly addresses these challenges by ensuring a steady and reliable feed supply, which is crucial for sustaining livestock health and production during such adverse climatic conditions.

This contract is more than just a supply agreement; it represents a significant advancement in the commercialization of feed and fodder in Kenya. The feed industry can move towards greater efficiency, predictability, and scale by establishing formal supply chains and partnerships such as the one between AWARFA Kenya and Kuzuri Farm. This will benefit individual farms and contribute to the broader livestock sector’s resilience and growth.

The livestock sector is vital to Kenya’s economy, contributing about 12% to the GDP and employing over half of the agricultural labor force. However, feed shortages and post-harvest losses of about 46% have severely constrained the sector’s potential. The government and organizations like AWARFA are actively working on interventions, including multi-stakeholder platforms and feed storage hubs, to tackle these systemic challenges. The contract with Kuzuri Farm aligns with these national efforts and the objectives of the Resilient African Feed and Fodder Systems (RAFFS) project, which aims to build sustainable feed value chains and empower stakeholders, especially women, in the livestock industry.