By Anderson Ojwang
The modern rice milling machine at the Lake Basin Development Authority (LBDA) at Kibos is capable of revolutionizing the region’s economy if farmers take advantage of the facility.
Apart from emerging opportunities for rice farmers, the mill also provides products that could spur fish, livestock and poultry farming to enhance the local economy.
Currently, Western Kenya and other parts of the country rely heavily on poultry products mainly eggs imported from Uganda and Tanzania.
Farmers in western Kenya face challenges such as high feed prices and fuel costs, which make egg production expensive. As a result, Kenya imports eggs from neighbouring countries
Currently, most poultry farmers have been forced to import chicken feeds from Uganda and Tanzania that are making the cost of production to be high.
LBDA Managing Director Mr. Wycliff Ochiaga said the Authority was moving into value addition for the byproducts to produce fish feeds, chicken feeds, dog food and other livestock feeds to spur the region’s economy.
“Through this initiative of value addition farmers can commercially engage in poultry, fish and livestock farming. This is an area we exploring to create economic opportunities in the Western Kenya region,” he said.
The new machine that was bought at Sh 75 million will enable 6000 rice farmers to have their rice milled and packaged at the facility.
During the launch of the Mill by President William Ruto in September 2024, he challenged farmers from the region to take advantage of the facility and engage in commercial farming.
“This new machine will rejuvenate the sector in the region and open up other farming sectors in the region such as poultry and fish farming. Let farmers explore the available opportunities to enhance their economic well-being,” he said.
The President said there will now be no need for farmers to take their paddy rice to Uganda for milling.
“The new machine will help our farmers to maximize their rice, no need to hustle to have paddy taken across the border,” he said.
In the recent past, farmers were selling their un-milled rice to brokers, who exploited them despite putting much effort into framing.
He noted that through the machine, they will produce chicken and fish feeds from the rice husk. The new mill has a capacity of 4 tons per hour, fully pneumatic compared to the old mill which was fully mechanical, with an installation capacity of 3.5 tons per hour that had reduced to an average of 0.87 tons per hour at the time of replacement.
The first machine at the mill was installed in the year 1196 with an installation capacity of 3.5 tons per hour which translates to 24,000 metric tons per month.
The milling capacity had significantly reduced over the year to an average of 0.87 tons per hour due to continuous wear and tear, depreciation, lack of spares and outdated technology which rendered the machine very inefficient.
Ochiaga said last year the government released Sh 100M for mop up of paddy rice in the region which enabled them to secure 2,500 tons of paddy rice.
He said LBDA has taken a bold step to revolutionize fish farming in the Lake Victoria region through the construction of a modern hatchery plant in Kisumu.
The MD said the modern hatcher plant at Kibos ITTC has an annual production of 12 million fingerlings that will go a long way in boosting fish farming in the lake region.
“The completion of the modern hatchery plant at Kibos ITTC, with a production capacity of 12 million fingerlings annually effective March 2025, will revolutionize fish farming in our region,” he said.
In his New Year speech, Ochiaga said LBDA’s strategic partnerships with educational institutions have further enhanced innovation and knowledge dissemination in aquaculture.
Fingerling farming is a key part of fish cage farming in Lake Victoria, where fish farmers demand more fingerlings to stock their cages:
The demand for fingerlings has increased as cage fish farming has become more popular in the region.
The Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute (KMFRI) estimates that there are over 6,000 fish cages on the Kenyan side of Lake Victoria, and each cage can produce one ton of fish per year.
“The year 2024 has been a testament to our collective resilience, innovation, and unwavering commitment to the transformative agenda of the Lake Basin Development Authority (LBDA),” he said.
In the spirit of our national ethos, we have made significant strides in various sectors:
“We have strengthened collaborations with various stakeholders and this has enhanced our capacity to deliver on our mandate. We have showcased our achievements through various platforms, reaching a huge audience, highlighting the impact of our work in sectors such as Rice farming, Fish farming and beekeeping,” he said.
