Cows, goats and sheep could soon have their own digital identity as the government steps up efforts to transform how livestock is identified, tracked and traded across Kenya.

🇰🇪 Breaking It Down

Agriculture and Livestock Development Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe is championing the nationwide rollout of the Animal Identification and Traceability System (ANITRAC), which assigns unique identities to animals and creates a digital record that can follow them throughout their lifetime.

The system is designed to capture information, including an animal’s origin, ownership, health status, vaccination history and movements, allowing authorised users to establish where an animal came from and verify its ownership and history.

Animals can be physically identified using visual ear tags and microchips, with their details linked to a central digital platform that can be accessed by authorised authorities, veterinarians, abattoirs, traders and other players in the livestock value chain.

📌 What You Need to Know

“Going forward, every Kenyan animal should have an identity and a traceable history. This will help us improve livestock management, strengthen disease surveillance, enhance food safety and open up better markets for our livestock producers,” Kagwe said.

The push comes amid recent cases of livestock theft and cattle rustling in different parts of the country, with farmers and pastoralists losing large numbers of animals and facing devastating economic consequences. In some cases, efforts to recover stolen herds have also exposed security officers and communities to violent confrontations.

For families whose livelihoods depend on livestock, the loss of an entire herd can wipe out a major source of income accumulated over years, making livestock theft not only an agricultural problem but also an economic and security concern.

ANITRAC is intended to make it harder for stolen animals to enter formal markets because an animal whose identification, ownership, or movement records do not match could be flagged for verification before it is sold or processed.

Beyond theft, the digital trail could allow authorities to quickly trace animals during disease outbreaks by establishing where an infected animal came from and which other animals it may have come into contact with.

The government is also linking the system to Kenya’s ambitions of entering more lucrative international markets, where buyers increasingly require proof of an animal’s origin, health status and movement history before accepting livestock and meat products.

📰 Source: Kenyans.co.ke