KMT senior programme officer Abdikadir Daud in Mombasa. [Photo/Maxwell Ngala]

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The Kenya Markets Trust (KMT) has said the country is yet to tap into the expanding livestock market across the continent. KMT said the country is yet to benefit from the open large market across Africa, thus seeing many livestock keepers living in acute poverty despite having large numbers of livestock in their homes.KMT Senior programme officer Abdikadir Daud said there is a need for stakeholders to collectively work in addressing the significant challenges and issues facing the livestock sub-sector.Speaking in Mombasa on Thursday, Daud said despite the huge livestock numbers, nomadic communities who occupy 75 percent of the country do not benefit from it.The KMT official said the livestock sector is the largest contributor to livelihoods in Arid and Semi-Arid Land (ASAL) areas of Kenya and urged livestock keepers and investors to embrace value addition so that they increase profitability.He said the livestock sector needs to be transformed into a better-organised industry for the purpose of value addition and uplifting the living standards of livestock keepers.Daud said livestock keepers suffer great losses especially during the dry season where their animals die because of lack of water and pasture.“The livestock sector represents about 12 percent of the country’s gross domestic product but that can be increased through a transformed livestock sector,” he said.He stressed on the need for continuous and concerted efforts from the private and public sector players to fully utilise the abundant livestock resources for the economic development of the country.Daud cited the lack of proper identification and traceability system of livestock among the pastoral communities in the drylands as well as the highlands as a major issue that needs modern technology for it to be fully addressed.“Lack of proper identification and traceability is a big challenge impeding effective livestock trade and marketing locally, regionally and globally,” he said.Is there a newsworthy accident, incident or event happening in Mombasa County that you want Hivisasa to cover? Tell us what is happening by joining this group and have it published. http://bit.ly/2BipYa6