NGPU April 22, 2024

Governor Kihika lauds Ireland for supporting research and policy work in agriculture and livestock development

Written by Mercy Kihugu

Nakuru County Governor H.E Susan Kihika has lauded the cordial relations between Nakuru County and the Embassy of Ireland supported by years of partnerships in the Agriculture and other sectors.

Governor Kihika lauded the contribution towards food security in Nakuru County by the Government of Ireland when she hosted the Ambassador of Ireland to Kenya, H.E Caitriona Ingoldsby.

Ireland supports research and policy work in agriculture and livestock development focusing on potato and dairy value chains.

After the event, Ambassador Ingoldsby visited Baraka Agricultural College in Molo Sub-county, where the college has benefited from a fully operational dairy unit. The unit trains farmers on various dairy farming technologies through the Dairy Kenya Ireland Project.

Ambassador Ingoldsby then visited Simon Rotich from Kamara Ward, Kuresoi North Sub-county, who has received training from the college and has since improved his dairy production from 5 litres to 30 litres per cow.

Finally, Ambassador Ingoldsby visited the Development Pamoja group in Rongai Sub-county, an organization that works with communities to improve living standards and enable self-sufficiency through community-based cooperative initiatives.

The Kenya Dairy Ireland Project activities have led to the development of a cattle breeding program with a focus on farm profitability through the use of improved forage-based production which meets more than 90 per cent of the animal’s dietary requirements.

The project is very significant since the smallholder farmers can learn and adopt innovations in breeding, value addition, and dairy industry skills development to increase productivity.