Kenya Livestock Markets Report, July 2011

Drought updates

Following the failure of successive seasonal rains in 2010/2011, especially in northern and eastern regions, water and pasture have dried-up. The situation has reached a point where communities can no longer survive without external support. The situation is worse in Marsabit, Moyale, Wajir, Mandera, Isiolo north, Samburu East, Turkana and parts of Garissa. The southeastern marginal districts of Kitui, Makueni, Mwingi, Tharaka and Mbeere and the coastal region to include Malindi, Kwale, Kilifi, and Taita Taveta are also reporting bad situations for livestock.

Widespread migration of surviving livestock into areas outside of the usual grazing areas, including movement into Uganda from Turkana and West Pokot; into Ethiopia from parts of Marsabit and Moyale; into Isiolo and Meru North, from Moyale, Marsabit, Wajir, Garissa, and Samburu; and toward the mixed farming zones in Tana River, Baringo, and Laikipia has been reported.

Currently the livestock body condition and hence the value of livestock, has depreciated and livestock markets have almost collapsed in some areas. There is general decline in the number of cattle offered in the markets as their numbers decline following the prolonged drought. The number of goats and camels offered in the market continues to rise. This is an indicator that the pastoralists are now forced to increase the sale of animals they perceive to be more resilient to drought.

The prices of livestock have generally taken a downward trend for most of the markets and the livestock offered are the thin grade and in some markets the emaciated grades meaning that the pastoralist income is affected negatively. Consequently, many people have less purchasing power than before which is compounded by increasing food prices.

NLMIS… extending the technical and human capacity to meet market information needs and

decision support for livestock producers, traders, and policymakers.

National Livestock Marketing Information System Bridging the digital divide in livestock marketing

The National Livestock Marketing Information System (NLMIS) applies information communication technology based on the simple message service (SMS) to report on weekly livestock sales and prices from a network of markets in Kenya. The system provides near real time information to enhance market transparency and support decision making by producers and traders in livestock trade and to inform policy makers plus other stakeholders with an interest to track movement in livestock prices as they relate to seasonal patterns. The information also helps track terms of trade for households dependent on livestock as part of their livelihoods.

Livestock Price Trends Charts 1 and 2 below show the average price and their estimated moving average (EMA) and volume trends of all livestock species (camel, cattle, sheep and goat) in all markets while chart 3 shows the price and volume trends in Chepareria, Emali, Ewaso Ng’iro, Garissa, Garsen, Kiserian, Moyale, Nairobi and Mombasa for the period beginning 1st July and ending 31st July 2011. Chart 1

Chart 2

Note that in both charts, the Estimated moving Average indicates a downward trend in the prices of all livestock.

Chart 3

Within the month under review, livestock price have taken a downward trend in all the markets. Source: www.lmiske.net

Monthly Livestock Market Information Report (7/1/2011 - 7/31/2011)

The tables below show the average prices of livestock in the current month as compared to the average prices in the previous month. The average price changes are indicated as percentage drop or rise. G1, G2, G3, G4 represents the grading of livestock from 1 to 4 where 1 is Fat, 2 moderate, 3 is thin and 4 is emaciated. The blank cells indicate that no animals of the indicated category were received in that market.

Cattle

Markets that recorded significant increase (>10%) in cattle prices are Chepareria, Ewaso ng’iro, Barwesa, Kiserian, Marigat, Mombasa, Dagoretti and Njiru. In Chepareria, the average price of mature female and young female grade 2 increased by 14.1 and 33.2% respectively. In ewaso Ng’iro, the average price for mature male grade 3 appreciated by 24.7 percent, while that of immature castrate grade 3 increased by 23.1 percent from the previous month. Sololo, Isiolo, Barwesa, Emali, Ewaso Ng’iro and Garissa are the markets that recorded significant decrease in average prices. In Sololo, the price of immature female grade 3 decreased by 65.8 percent from 3500 to 1200. In Isiolo the price of mature male grade 3 dropped by 14.3% while that of grade 3 young male and young female dropped by 16.1% nad 15.4% respectively. Emali market received poorer grade 4 animals with prices of mature female grade 4 dropping by 33.8%,

Goat

Generally marketed goat volumes increased in the month of July following the continued drought situation. Chepareria, Habaswein, Lodwar, Lolkuniyiani, Mombasa, Nairobi, Nginyang, rumuruti and sololo recorded marked increase in volumes with rumuruti registering and increase of 294% from 1200 goats in the previous month to 4733 in the current month. Markets that recorded an increase in average prices of goats include Chepareria, Habaswein, Isiolo, lodwar, lolkuniyiani, Mombasa, Mulot, Nairobi, and Rumuruti while in chepkono prices went down. In Rumuruti, prices of young male grade 2 increased by 21.4% while in Isiolo and Mulot the prices of similar animal went up by 12.1% and 14.9% respectively. Price of a young female grade 1 went up by 27.3% and 25% in Chepareria and Lodwar respectively. Mature males, mature castrates and mature female continued to be the categories of goats offered in almost all the markets in the country. Their prices remained stable as compared to the previous month with minor variations.

Sheep

Marketed sheep volumes recorded mixed tidings within the month of July with equal number of markets registering increased and decreased volumes. Chepareria, Garissa, Mulot, Nairobi and rumuruti recorded marked increase in volumes while Chepkono, Habaswein, Mombasa, Isiolo and Nginyang registering a decrease in volumes marketed. Chepkono market recorded depressed marketed volumes that translated into increased average prices of most sheep categories. Immature female grade 2 and immature male grade 1 recorded an increase of 39.8% and 25.8% respectively. Similar trends of depressed volumes and marked price increases were observed in Habaswein, Mombasa and Nginyang markets. Suguta and Nairobi markets are the only markets that recorded both increase in volumes and prices at the same time.

Camel

Camel volumes increased in all the markets with habaswein recording a 94.8 percent increase and Wajir 14.2 percent increase. As a confirmation of the severe drought in north eastern province, Wajir county (Habaswein and Wajir town markets) presented grade 4 camels in the market. This is the worst it can get for the drought since camels are the most drought resilient amongst all the livestock types. Apart from the grade 4 categories, all the other categories recorded slight improvement in prices compared to the previous month. Disclaimer: This information is provided for decision support, but should not be the sole source of information for livestock and land management decisions making. CNRIT, Texas A&M University, and the Ministry of Livestock Development are not responsible for any decisions made using the information provided here. Generated by the National Livestock Market Information System (NLMIS) on 8/2/2011 12:21:37 PM. . NLMIS… extending the technical and human capacity to meet market information needs and decision support for livestock producers, traders, and policymakers.

Requesting Information using SMS

To query volume and price data from the system, send the correct codes and you will receive an automated response. 1. Identify the market you are interested in and its code. The markets and their respective codes are provided below:

Market Code Bangale Ban Barwesa Bar Chepareria Chp Chepkono Che Emali Ema Ewaso Ngiro Ewa Isiolo Isi Garissa Gar Garsen Grs Habaswein Hab Kimana Kim Kiserian Kis Kishaunet Ksh Kolowa Kol Lodwar Lod Lolkuniyiani Lol Lomut Lom Mandera Mdr

Marigat Mag Marsabit Mar Merille Mer Mombasa Msa Moyale Moy Mulot Mul Nairobi Dagoretti Nrbd Nairobi Kiamaiko Nrbk Nairobi Njiru Nrbj Nginyang Ngi Oldonyiro Old Orolwo Oro Rhamu Rha Rumuruti Rum Sololo Sol Suguta Sgt Suswa Sus Wajir Waj

2. create New Message in your cell phone.

3. Type the message MK R followed by the Market code of choice. For example if you are interested in Mombasa, write the message MK R MSA inserting a single space between MK and R and R and MSA.

4. Send the message to 0733 333 056 and wait for a response.

5. When processed the message will appear as follows:

SMS Message Processed: MK R MSA Result: Market Mombasa Cattle Mixed Avg. Volume 190 Cattle Mixed Immature Female G3 Avg. Price 5850 Cattle Mixed Immature Male G3 Avg. Price 5870 Cattle Mixed Mature Female G2 Avg. Price 24500 Cattle Mixed Mature Female G3 Avg. Price 15950 Cattle Mixed Mature Male G2 Avg. Price 26100 Cattle Mixed Mature Male G3 Avg. Price 16750 , 25/03/11 09:46:05,1,2

6. The system reports the latest data received within the last 2 weeks and if no such data are available you get a message reading as follows:

SMS Message Processed: MK R BAR Result: Market Barwesa No data for this market StartDate 2011-03-11 12:00:00; StopDate 2011-03-25 12:00:00, 25/03/11 09:41:31, 1,2