KDC to Spend Sh4.5b on Livestock Value Chain in Arid and Semi-Arid Lands

Kenya Development Corporation (KDC) has received Sh4.5 billion from the World Bank to catalyse development of Livestock Value Chains (LVC) in the Arid and Semi-Arid lands (Asal).

Christopher Huka, KDC Director General said the investments will build up pastoralists’ resilience, enhancing their access to financial services and including them better in the livestock trade in the horn of Africa region by connecting them better to markets.  

The sector is a crucial economic lifeline for pastoralist communities in the ASAL counties, which have been affected by the current ravaging drought that has affected over four million Kenyans including livestock.

“As Kenya’s single cross-sector Development Finance Institution, KDC is enabled with sufficient scale, scope, and resources to play a catalytic role in Kenya’s socio-economic development,” Huka said during the inaugural stakeholder engagement workshop in Nairobi.

The event marked the first year of KDC’s formal launch and affirmed the corporation’s commitment to address critical gaps in the market for long-term financing in infrastructure, manufacturing and agro-industry sectors that cannot be met by commercial banks.

Huka said KDC is also seeking partners with whom it can equally develop other nascent sectors that have the potential for high socio-economic impact like developing the blue economy, post-harvest management and enhancing access to green and renewable energy.

KDC board chairman Michael Nyachae said Kenyan entrepreneurs and industrialists are demanding access to quality and affordable financial solutions tailor-made for their respective needs, which the corporation was acutely aware of.