On Wednesday, Livestock Principal Secretary Jonathan Mueke revealed that Kenya was losing millions in export revenue by not vaccinating its livestock, as its meat was not considered premium compared to that of other meat-exporting countries.
Speaking during an interview on Spice FM, PS Mueke explained that Kenya's biggest meat importer, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), valued Kenyan goat meat at $9 per kilo, whereas the same product from other countries, such as Pakistan, was valued at $12 due to its extensive disease control measures.
According to Mueke, this amounted to a loss of approximately Ksh 4,000 per unvaccinated goat. "Since we send over 85 per cent of our meat to the UAE and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, we decided to focus on these two countries in our root market study.
We visited supermarkets, examined the prices, and were shown that one kilogramme of goat meat from Pakistan sells for $12, while the same from Kenya sells for $9," Mueke stated.
