Pastoralists in Garissa have been urged to fatten their animals before selling them for better returns.
Alfred Muthee, an agricultural consultant in Garissa said that there is a need for the residents, who largely depend on livestock for survival, to be trained on how to fatten their animals before resorting to selling them.
Muthee pointed out that while most pastoralist communities keep animals for prestigious reasons, they only sell them when they are too weak and at the verge of death, thus, earning less.
However, Muthee feels that the situation can be reversed if the relevant county department engages the farmers and sensitises them on the sector.
“All is not lost and something can be done to reverse the trend in the deeply rooted traditional livestock keeping methods," said Muthee.
The consultant also stated that it was unfortunate that pastoralists from the region were not taught how to keep livestock as a business such that they were still doing it in a traditional way.
The livestock consultant further adds that Garissa County would soon become a centre of research on beef and residents should seize the opportunity presented and utilise it.