Investment Opportunities
Milk production in the county has been on a steady rise; however, demand outstrips production by 45 million litres. There are investment opportunities in milk production, value addition, feeds manufacture and dairy goat production. The county government is encouraging use of artificial insemination and other modern breeding technologies. In poultry production the county government is investing in upgrading of indigenous chicken, dual purpose poultry.
The county has a demand of 460 million eggs; however, production is 17 million. There are opportunities in egg and broiler production. Bee keeping has made tremendous progress in the recent past. This has seen the rise in use of Langstroth and Kenya Top Bar Hives (KTBH) and rapid decrease in traditional hives.120 tons of honey were produced last year. Honey processing unit has been set up in Nyamusi division of Nyamira North District.
The policy initiative in the subsector includes promotion of aquaculture development, enforcement of legislation, quality assurance through safe handling of fish and fishery products and management and conservation of fishery resources. Fish farming in the county has been on a steady rise mainly of Nile, Tilapia and Catfish. Production of fish in the county is estimated at 470 tons against a demand of 45,500 tons per year. There are investment opportunities in fish farming (Nile, Tilapia and Catfish. production) cage culture (production of fish in cages in large dams in the county), fish farming input supply e.g. nets, feeds, lime etc, production, quality fingerling production ornamental fish production and aquaria (gold fish), aqua parks for sport fishing and tourism. Value additions of fish products and fish bait production are other opportunities that have not been ventured into.
A-fish-farm-at-Miruka-in-Nyamira-county-300×168 A Senior Fisheries Officer Mrs. Kidera (3rd from Right)) takes ECM Mrs. Mong’are around a fish farm at Miruka in Nyamira County, a manager of the farm explains a point to the team A-private-fish-farm-at-kebirigo-in-Nyamira-County.-300×168 Mrs. Peris Mong’are, the E.C.M for Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries accompanied by Senior Fisheries Officer Mr S. Kidera (R), inspects a private fish farm at Kebirigo in Nyamira County.
Main food crops Maize Maize is the stable food in the county. Its production dropped from 86,794tons in 2011 to 26,826 tons in 2012 due to maize lethal necrotic disease (MLND) that affected most of the farms. The potential yield per Ha of 40 bags per Ha has not been realized since the current yield is about 30 bags per Ha. The county government has endeavored to minimize maize disease which has drastically reduced maize production in the county, pledged to improve on production and post harvest handling of the crop to achieve sufficiency in the sub counties. Beans The production of beans increased from 15,893 tons in 2011 to 16,502 tons in 2012. The increase was attributed to emphasis on the crop to compensate the maize failure especially in Borabu sub- county. ii) Cash crops ·
Tea Tea continued to be a major cash crop in Nyamira County. This is attributed to soil and climatic conditions. Average production is 6.6 tons/ Ha. Challenges in the Tea Industry in Nyamira County are: low acreage / farmer due to small land holdings, Competition for the same inputs, low application of fertilizers, unfavourable weather conditions, tea hawking and poor road networks Coffee The full potential in coffee production has not been fully exploited. Although there are still challenges in production, marketing and value addition, there has been improvement in the last 3 years with Coffee Societies being the major market outlet is the county. Pyrethrum Nyamira is one of the major areas where pyrethrum is grown in Kenya and being a potential area of high quality and quantity of pyrethrum, we can get multiple produce.
Currently there is an estimated 468 pyrethrum growers in the county who are small scale farmers with less than 5acres of land. Production of pyrethrum flowers has increased steadily from 2898 kgs in 2010 to 5088 kgs in 2013. Currently, Ksh. 150 million has been set aside by the pyrethrum board to pay farmers Ksh. 100 per kg of dry flowers on delivery. The balance will be paid after two weeks whether processing has taken place or not.