Making pig feeds safe from aflatoxins

Hilda Njeri Njuguna

Hilda Njeri Njuguna at her pig enterprise at their home in Kiambu County, where she also makes feeds for the animals.

Photo credit: Brian Okinda | Nation Media Gruop

When Hilda Njeri Njuguna graduated from St Paul’s University in 2017, the Supplies and Purchasing degree holder who is in her mid-twenties hoped to get a procurement job promptly, or at least any other in the field of her studies.

However, that was not to be, as a series of false starts in her job hunt forced her to look elsewhere for a viable source of income, since jobs in virtually all professions appeared hard to come by.

Sometime in 2019, an opportune call for expression of interest in different agribusinesses by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) enticed her towards pig farming.

The FAO, she says, was then supporting the youth – training them on different agribusinesses and then linking them up with credit facilities to start their own enterprises.

“There were a number of agricultural businesses on offer. But while it may give the impression of a messy agribusiness, pig farming stood out for me as the most appealing since not many people practise it in this area,” says Hilda, who lives at her parents’ home in Gatimu village in Limuru, Kiambu County.

Micro-credit facility

She was then linked to Village Community Banks (VICOBA), a micro-credit facility, which offered her a loan which, coupled with contributions from her parents and other kin, helped her get started.

She was able to raise Sh330,000, with which she established her pig farming enterprise in 2019.

From the amount, Hilda says she spent Sh80,000 on buying 10 pigs as her starting stock.

What remained went into building sties and other structures on a quarter-acre, out of her parents’ one-acre piece of land. Part of the money catered for labour costs.

Hilda, who now rears 107 pigs of the Large White, Landrace and Duroc breeds, admits that she ventured into pig farming because contrary to widely held beliefs, it is not  labour-intensive, neither does it require a large space to be successful.

"I have sold at least 200 pigs since 2019 when I started out. There is a ready market in this neighbourhood because there are no pig farmers here. There are also abattoirs in the neighbouring localities of Ndumbuini and Kabuku where I sell most of my mature pigs – aged eight months – for slaughter. I also sell two to three- month-old piglets to neighbours who are interested in rearing them," she says, further revealing that she also sells in-pig sows for Sh30,000 to Sh35,000.

Biggest headache

Her feeding regimen entails giving her pigs portions of a feed once per day, then supplementing this with potato vines and vegetables, which she grows in sections of their farm, as well as milk.

But from the onset of her agribusiness, Hilda’s biggest headache had been feeding her pigs.

Many times, she says, the feed she bought was not only too expensive, but also ended up being of poor quality and more often than not adulterated.

The feed challenge, she feared, would harm more than benefit her livestock and eventually cause losses to her nascent agribusiness.

Farmers have for long contended with the challenge of feeding aflatoxin-contaminated feeds to their livestock. This often causes aflatoxin poisoning, which could lead to animal deaths.

Poor quality feeds, on the other hand, causes stunted growth in the animals, which Hilda says she had observed in her pigs.

And since it is often difficult for farmers to discern the differences in the feeds they buy – whether it is adulterated, contaminated or expired – she thought it wise to minimise the risk and formulate it herself.

Luckily, they had been taught on formulating different types of feeds, as well as identifying common pig ailments and sometimes managing them, during the course of their training.

Boosts profitability

"I now buy the ingredients, which include maize, wheat bran and supplements, then formulate the feeds myself," she says, adding that even though the ingredients do not come cheap, she still cuts the cost of production, which in turn boosts the enterprise’s profitability.

Initially, she says, she used to spend at least Sh15,000 monthly on buying feeds for her pigs. But now she spends a maximum of Sh9,000 on  feeds.

Veterinary specialist and livestock expert Joseph Mugachia, however, says feed formulation ought to involve an expert since pigs at their different stages of growth require different types of feeds and nutritional necessities.

Dr Mugachia adds that oftentimes, it is also difficult for a farmer to solely identify the harmful components –such as aflatoxin contamination – in the ingredients they use if they do not enlist the expertise of a certified animal health expert.

"But one should not try to diagnose and proceed to treat their livestock by themselves. It isn’t permissible. One has to be proficiently trained to do that.

“This is why vets and animal health experts are important," he says, adding that it is common for farmers to wrongly diagnose and use medications – including antibiotics – which end up in the animal products that we consume later.

African swine fever (ASF), swine pox and gut oedema, among others are the key diseases to watch out for when keeping pigs with the ASF being particularly lethal.

Dr Mugachia also adds that pig farming requires proper record-keeping and management to track their health and one’s expenses accurately.