Al Bashayer Meat Company owned by the Sultanate of Oman has expressed interests in buying local cattle, goats and sheep due to the expansion of its business.
The firm which is developing the world's third largest integrated meat processing and rendering facility is anticipating to buy high quality live cattle which will be slaughtered in Oman or otherwise be sold as live animals to other Gulf countries.
The firm's procurement specialist Jack Onyango said officials from the company are in Taita Taveta county to evaluate the beef cattle and short livestock production capacity of Taita Taveta ranches and their capability to meet international export quality standards.
"The firm targets at purchase 43,000 cattle and 300,000 shorts (goats and sheep) annually. We want to start importing early next year," said Onyango.
Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries CeC Davis Mwangoma said currently the 33 ranches have a potential to offtake 30,000 to 40,000 cattle annually but with improved livestock management structures that the county is putting in place, the figure can be doubled.
"It is possible to increase the number of cattle especially if there is a guaranteed market. As a county we're strengthening our disease control and surveillance measures including mass vaccination to keep our animals healthy and we've embarked on feedlot development to facilitate faster growth and fattening rate of the cattle," said Mwangoma.
Addressing the delegation on Friday, Deputy Governor Majala Mlagui said the County Administration is working to create a conducive environment to attract more investors to support different sectors of the economy to uplift the livelihoods of the people of Taita Taveta.
She noted that there is a high potential to enhancing the beef cattle value chain in the county particularly production of high quality cattle to compete with the globally recognized nations as far as beef livestock production is concerned.
"We're keen to provide our farmers with the right breeds. I'm sure we can compete with Brazil and Botswana in terms of weight and quality. We're developing proper infrastructure to support cattle keepers such as water supply and set up cattle breeding centers. We're looking for partners to help realize this and your involvement into it is highly welcomed," said the Deputy Governor.
Mlagui challenged ranchers to pull up their socks to ensure consistency in the supply through building their staffing, management and operational capacities.
She assured the ranchers that the governor was still committed to ranching development and set of industrial mechanisms in the County.
Taita Taveta Ranchers Association chairman Bong'osa Mcharo said the entry of the new investor will energize the ranchers to produce more herds due to the existence of a ready market.
"Kenya Meat Commission used to be the main buyer of our cattle. Most times they delayed payments for up to six months. We shall work on increasing the capacity and improve of our herds through a partnership with the investor," he said.