By Betty Luke
Seven agrovets including those owned by groups in five Isiolo wards have benefited from Sh1.1 million grant meant to help them sell animal drugs at subsidized prices for improved resilience among the pastoral counties.
The agrovets drawn from Oldonyiro, Chari, Cherab, Garbatulla and Sericho wards were picked following an assessment by Merti Integrated Program (Mid-p) on availability of most sought after drugs by local pastoralists.
MID-P programs Manager Mr Ibrahim Kabelo said the Sh160, 000 given to each agrovet would help the shops sell the identified drugs at a cheaper price.
“Following an assessment we realized that the agrovets were facing financial challenges that led to unavailability of essential drugs needed by the livestock keepers,” said Mr Kabelo.
Garbatula agrovet dealer Mr Hajji Somo Roba said the program would greatly benefit the locals as some had stopped purchasing some important drugs due to the high prices.
“The help is timely as some of our customers had stopped buying drugs due to the rising costs,” he said.
Ms Luigi Lesuuda from Oldonyiro said it will offer residents who used to travel for over 100 kilometers to buy the drugs in Nanyuki or Isiolo towns a huge relief.
“Our customers have been suffering because we couldn’t afford to stock some specific drugs due to lack of funds,” said Ms Lesuuda.
The dealers will buy specific drugs as advised by the organization and the county Livestock Department that they will later sell to the customers at 10 percent less.
Dennis Mwongela, an officer from the County Department of Livestock, said the office will offer technical support to the agrovets and that they had put in place measures to get rid of counterfeit drugs that were a threat to animal health.
Doing so, the officer said, will achieve optimal health for livestock.
