Kenya’s leading meat exporter has seen a 35 per cent decrease in the number of goats slaughtered for export as the falling dollar drives down goat export prices.
Previously, Neema Livestock Slaughtering & Investment Ltd would have worked on up to 7,000 goats daily for export to the Middle East. Today the company butchers just 3,000 -3,500 goats daily. While this will pick up from mid to late August as the summer peak in the Middle East ends and visitors trickle back in, they expect to hit 4,500 goats daily as the strengthening Kenyan shilling has slashed earnings from goat exports.
“When the dollar strengthens our business succeeds. The export market is currently buying a kilogram of goat meat for Sh610-620 which is considered low by livestock keepers who are opting to hold and fatten their goats. If I export that kilo of meat to the United Arab Emirates I’ll earn about 6.4 dollars which is not guaranteed as prices are volatile. But then I have to account for the cost of transporting and clearing the meat to be sold in the country. At the end of the line looking at what you earn and the logistical hurdles you go through you’re almost better off selling the meat locally,” explained Salat Bonaya, the Assistant Manager at Neema Livestock Slaughtering & Investment.
Meat exports have been the fastest-growing agriculture sector in Kenya rocketing at 21.72 per cent every year from 2009 to reach Sh17 billion in 2023. This has been fuelled almost exclusively by Middle Eastern countries which are known for their love for goat meat which makes up 63 per cent of red meat consumed worldwide.
According to Abdia Liber, an official at Neema this market almost exclusively buys six to seven-month-old ‘white meat’ Galla goats which are soft and tender and weigh eight to ten kilos after slaughter.
The animal needs to have a local animal movement permit to transport the animals to slaughter at the company’s processing facilities at Luckysummer where the animals are checked for any diseases by government and NEEMA veterinarian doctors.
The company charges Sh150 for slaughter as well as keeping the animal’s offals.
If you are looking to export meat you’ll need an incorporation license and to have forms showing you have a registered tax-compliant business before filling a contract selling through NEEMA.
Competition from other cheaper sources of goat meat such as Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Brazil has also limited Kenya’s export options. Salat explains that their main markets such as Bahrain are now almost exclusively supplied by Tanzanian and Ethiopian. Tanzania’s currency is much weaker than both the US dollar and the Kenyan shilling with a trader being able to buy a livegoat for as little as Sh4,000 and sell it a day later for Sh1,000 more. Meanwhile, the Ethiopian government sets the export price to avoid any private buyer price undercutting.
He further said that the Qatar market had been closed off to East African countries except for Sudan since 2022. Dubai– the UAE’s capital for its part has grown into a meat mecca where all the meats from around the world land and is gradually embracing cheaper Brazil and Ethiopian meat.
Neema Livestock Slaughtering & Investment Ltd: 0701 152944
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