Kenya has set an aggressive target for its livestock sector, growing it from Sh390 billion to Sh1 trillion within two years and the strategy to get there runs through a single piece of infrastructure: a nationwide digital system that tracks every animal from birth to slaughter.
Resolutions adopted at the inaugural Kenya Meat Conference in Nyeri centre on the Animal Identification and Traceability System (ANITRAC), a digital platform that assigns every animal a unique code and builds a lifetime record spanning birth, movement, sale, export and eventual slaughter or natural death. Agriculture and Livestock Development Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe launched the system at the two-day conference, framing it as the foundation of the country’s livestock commercialisation agenda. “Traceability is no longer optional if Kenya is to compete in the global meat market. ANITRAC will modernise livestock management while strengthening disease surveillance, food safety and consumer confidence,” said Kagwe.
Kenya’s meat sector has long struggled to meet the documentation demands of premium export markets, which require proof of animal origin, health history and compliance with food safety standards. Principal Secretary for Livestock Development Jonathan Mueke described traceability as the single most important unlock for international access. “We have agreed that we must embrace traceability because that is what the market demands if we want to sell our products globally,” said, adding that the State Department for Livestock Development would accelerate ANITRAC’s national rollout in partnership with county governments and livestock owners.
The conference adopted seven broad resolutions spanning policy reform, fast-tracking the Livestock Bill, Animal Health Bill and ANITRAC Bill alongside a push to expand livestock vaccination coverage from 15% to at least 80% of the national herd. Vaccination campaigns are already underway in 13 counties, targeting Foot and Mouth Disease, which Mueke identified as a major barrier to international meat trade. He added, “We also agreed that all abattoirs should be manned by qualified government veterinary and meat inspection officers, while investing in veterinary laboratories, certification systems and disease-free zones. These measures will strengthen food safety, improve disease surveillance and give importing countries confidence in the quality and safety of Kenyan meat.”
Climate resilience featured heavily too, with delegates calling for investment in breed improvement, water infrastructure and commercial fodder production. “Climate change has shown us that livestock production cannot depend on rain-fed systems alone. We must invest in water infrastructure and large-scale fodder production, especially in arid and semi-arid areas, to ensure a reliable supply of feed throughout the year,” said Mueke. He tied the shift toward feedlot systems directly to value addition. “Feedlotting and value addition are central to transforming Kenya’s livestock sector into a commercially driven industry. We must produce uniform, high-quality animals that meet export market requirements while investing in export-grade slaughterhouses, processing facilities, cold-chain infrastructure and quality grading systems,” noted Mueke.
Kenya earned Sh18.7 billion from meat exports in 2025, a 39% increase on the previous year, with goat and lamb accounting for nearly 85% of exports and demand concentrated in Middle Eastern and North African markets. But the infrastructure gap is stark, only seven in every 1,000 slaughterhouses currently meet export standards, capping Kenya’s ability to supply premium international buyers at scale. Nyeri Governor Mutahi Kahiga said counties will be central to the transformation agenda’s success, with six counties already implementing ANITRAC alongside the State Department for Livestock. Kahiga, “As counties, we must provide budgets so that we can hit the ground running. Nyeri has already registered about 110,000 cattle and plans to begin tagging roughly 30% before expanding coverage. Locally produced identification tags have cut costs significantly, down to roughly Sh100 per animal from around Sh150 for imported tags, a saving that would make it easier for farmers to participate in traceability while building the credibility Kenya needs to compete in high-value markets.”
On financing, Kenya Development Corporation Director General Norah Ratemo said KDC would back livestock aggregation companies to formalise trade and stabilise prices for pastoralists, who currently sell without reliable market information. “Pastoralists are not able to predict the price they are going to get for their animals. Organised aggregation will formalise the trade while enabling farmers to determine fair prices,” said Ratemo. State Department for Livestock DRIVE Coordinator Maurice Ouma linked de-risking directly to investment appetite, “If we want consistency of quality and supply, we must find ways of de-risking so that pastoralists are willing to invest and banks are willing to lend,” noted Ouma. He added that insurance payouts have already helped households avoid distress sales during drought.
Farmers Choice CEO Felister Gitau called the conference a turning point, framing value addition as Kenya’s opportunity to put meat products alongside tea, flowers and avocados as leading exports. “Value addition remains one of the greatest opportunities for Kenya to position meat and meat products alongside tea, flowers and avocados as leading exports. The sector’s job-creation potential, spanning processing, agribusiness and entrepreneurship, could draw young people into commercial livestock production at scale,” concluded Gitau. For a sector supporting millions of households across Kenya’s arid and semi-arid lands, the reforms represent an attempt to convert one of the country’s oldest economic activities into a modern, technology-driven and globally competitive industry, with ANITRAC as the foundational layer everything else is being built on.
