This report includes our desk research conducted in October 2021 and our in-person research conducted in December 2021.
To facilitate the implementation of our proposed feed fortification intervention to improve the welfare of egg-laying hens, the Healthier Hens team has been conducting a series of country assessment and selection processes that aims to provide an evidence-based and well-researched choice of country of pilot implementation.
After the third-level country assessment, Kenya was shortlisted as a potential implementation country, alongside Germany and the United States of America. Subsequently, Kenya was visited over a period of 3-weeks where a country scoping and research exercise was carried out. This includes getting information on the layer-hen farms and production cycles, the poultry feed industry, prevalent hen health and welfare challenges, scoping and establishing relationships with government, industry, and civil society stakeholders, and determining the country’s ease of doing business. This country report provides comprehensive results and information gathered during the country visit and scoping research for Kenya.
Summary of results show that Kenya has a variety of poultry farming systems ranging from large, medium, and small-scale farms; intensive, semi-intensive and extensive farms; with the implementation of both caged and cage-free systems. Feed levels are largely below optimal levels especially for Calcium and Vitamin D3, and there are key gaps in the implementation of animal (and poultry) feed monitoring and standardization by established regulatory bodies. While farmers get their poultry feed from a variety of sources including commercial feed, agrovets and self-formulators, rising costs of feed are major impediments to the adoption and utilization of quality standard feed. Also, there is a general acknowledgement of calcium deficiencies on farms evidenced by farmers’ observations of poorly formed eggshells, lameness, cage-layer fatigue, and incidents of fractures.
Among the farmers, private and public sector stakeholders engaged, there is a general willingness to collaborate on the intervention. With regards to the Effective Altruism community, this is still very nascent and growing stage in Kenya.
Please read our full report below.