Micro-finance for Livestock Development in the Aid/Semi-Arid Areas of Kenya: Investment Opportunities and Credit Supply Mechanisms

This paper is written in the context of a development bank funding for livestock development in the arid/semi-arid areas of Kenya. A number of activities in the funding proposal will be supported by credit. They include beekeeping in small units, small scale honey refineries, a mini dairy plant to process camel milk, some rural tanneries, small stock and beef farming, Some of these will be individually owned and operated enterprises, e.g., beekeeping, while others will be owned by groups or associations, e.g., honey refineries, rural tanneries and the mini dairy. The financial viability of some of these enterprises is analysed, then organisation and operation of selected credit institutions involved in rural and micro finance business are reviewed in order to develop guidelines for selecting appropriate institution(s) for administering the credit components of the programme.