4 FEED & ADDITIVE MAGAZINE June 2024 The Association of Kenya Feed Manufacturers (AKEFEMA), is a business membership organization registered in Kenya as the official representative body for the livestock feeds industry. Its mandate is to promote a conducive environment for feed businesses and promote profitable livestock farming in Kenya through producing quality animal feed. We promote a vibrant business environment that draws member benefits through cooperation and coordination of all policy stakeholders and value chain actors for the delivery of quality feedstuffs and related services AKEFEMA’s operations are structured into specialized experts’ committees that deliver specific mandates relevant to the work and sustainability of the association. These committees drive and facilitate various platforms to enhance, protect, and ensure the present and future interests of the industry. KENYA MILLING ENVIRONMENT The Kenyan feed industry is dealing with daunting three major challenges: availability of raw materials, cost, and quality of feed. Most of our feed ingredients are imports, over 80%. This heavy dependence on imports exposes the industry to all international financial and political factors that have a significant effect on the price and quality of raw materials. Fluctuation of the dollar and wars in Eastern Europe, the Mediterranean and the Red Sea have significantly affected our international commodity routes, hence contributing to increased cost of feeds. Regional policies on and the slow embrace of biotechnology in agriculture, continue to affect crop productivity enhancing the dependence on imports and narrowing suitable source markets for raw materials. There is a need to increase domestic production of key ingredients like maize and soya, which are major feed ingredients and comprise up to 75%, depending on the feed type. This strategy would not only lessen reliance on volatile imports but also stabilize costs and create a more sustainable supply chain for a healthy feed industry ADDRESSING CHALLENGES To address the challenges of raw materials, the association is taking an active role in pushing for favourable policies to increase the adoption of biotech in crop farming to increase local production. We are offering a ready market for sunflower, cotton and maize farmers, to promote interest in producing these crops. We are working to promote access to diverse ingredients by promoting use of alternative sources of energy and protein, like Distilled Dried Grains Soluble (DDGS) and Black Soldier Fly (BSF) that are cheaper than conventional imports. The association has upscaled training for its members on the code of conduct for quality milling. Working with quality regulatory institutions to train our members on quality standards and procedures. The Kenya Bureau of Standards has been supportive to members as regulator on sensitizing our members on quality. We are working with higher institutions of learning to link academia with the industry. The industry is supporting the institutions of learning to KENYA'S FEED INDUSTRY AND INCREASING COST PRESSURES Paul Kamau Chief Executive Officer AKEFEMA LEAD ARTICLE
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