Production costs have doubled in the last one year despite Kenyans' adoption of healthy lifestyles that has seen wider uptake of chicken, according to Business Daily Africa.

Growth has stagnated over the last five years mostly due to lack of incentives, said the Kenya Poultry Farmers Association (Kepofa).

Currently, over 21 million people rely on poultry farming for their livelihood and it contributes 6.1 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) generated from livestock.

Poultry farming uptake has boomed in Kenya's rural areas where smallholder families, especially Western, Rift Valley and Eastern provinces, have taken to the product over the last 10 years.

There are approximately 30 million birds in the country, of which 76 per cent are free-ranging indigenous chicken, 14 per cent are commercial layers and eight per cent broilers. The remaining two per cent include duck, turkey, quail and other birds.

Distribution by province stands at approximately 33.6 per cent, 26.9 per cent and 11.2 per cent for Nyanza, Rift Valley and Eastern provinces respectively, according to studies done by John Omiti, a senior policy analyst and head of Productive Sector Division at Kenya Institute of Public Policy Research and Analysis (Kippra).

But the industry, which offers great potential for income generation and is a major source of protein, has seen slow growth over the years in both indigenous and exotic sectors.

According to the Economic Survey 2010, farmers produced 22,000 tonnes of chicken in 2006, compared with 23,000 last year. Production hit a high of 24,000 tonnes in 2008.

Meanwhile, egg production rose to a high of 89,000 tonnes in 2008, falling to a four year low of 81,000 tonnes last year.

The cost of production has increased from 1.9 billion shillings (KES) in 2006 to KES4.3 billion currently.

Analysts say the biggest challenge facing the industry is the high cost of inputs, reports Business Daily Africa.

Wairimu Kariuki, chairman of Kepofa, said: "The prices given to farmers do not commensurate the production costs thus discouraging small scale farmers. The industry is under regulated leading to exploitation of small scale farmers by middlemen and traders."

Cost doubled

The average prices for day-old chicks in Nairobi were KES77 and KES50 for layers and broilers, respectively, in 2007. Today, the prices are KES90 and KES60, respectively.

Meanwhile, the cost of charcoal and electricity, which are mainly used to keep the chicks warm for the first few weeks, has doubled.

While in 2007, the price of a bag of charcoal was KES400, it now goes for KES800, and the cost of animal feeds has also doubled.

Industry players are now banking on increased maize production to reduce the prise of inputs.

Richard Kenei, the general manager at Kenya Bixa Limited, said: "If there is enough maize production in the country, feed prices should be able to come down. Support from the government can also help bring down feed prices."

Kenchic sales and marketing manager Humphrey Mwangi said that feeds, which consist mainly of maize and soybean, account for approximately 70 per cent of the input costs.

Allowing for the importation of cheap maize and reduction of import duty on soya, which stands at 10 per cent, could help reduce production costs.

Farmers also face a shortage of day-old broilers and layer chicks, reports Business Daily Africa.