Dutch animal nutrition giant De Heus has commissioned a state-of-the-art manufacturing plant in Machakos, promising to slash feed costs and revolutionize Kenya’s livestock productivity.

Kenya’s livestock sector has received a massive shot in the arm with the opening of De Heus’s Sh3 billion animal feed facility in Athi River, the first of its kind in East Africa. The sprawling complex represents one of the most significant foreign direct investments in Kenya’s agribusiness sector in the last decade, signaling a vote of confidence in the country’s agricultural potential.

The plant, boasting an annual production capacity of 200,000 metric tonnes, addresses the chronic shortage of quality affordable feeds that has long strangled the profitability of Kenyan dairy and poultry farmers. For years, the sector has been held hostage by high production costs and inferior, unregulated feeds that result in poor milk yields and slow growth rates for livestock.

Targeting the Cost of Production

Speaking at the launch, De Heus Kenya CEO Koen de Heus emphasized that the facility is built to solve the "quality-price paradox" that plagues African agriculture. By localizing production and sourcing raw materials like maize and soy from Kenyan farmers, the firm intends to cut out the expensive logistics of importation, passing the savings directly to the farmer.

• Capacity & Scale: The factory will produce feed for poultry, pigs, and dairy cattle, with potential to expand to 260,000 metric tonnes.
• Job Creation: The investment is expected to create over 1,000 direct and indirect jobs across the supply chain, from truck drivers to maize farmers.

A Strategic Hub

Principal Secretary for Livestock Jonathan Mueke hailed the investment as a game-changer, noting that it aligns perfectly with the government’s Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA). "This is not just a factory; it is a partner in our food security strategy," he stated. With Kenya currently importing a significant portion of its animal feed requirements, the Athi River plant is poised to turn the country into a net exporter of high-quality animal nutrition to the wider East African region.

As the first trucks roll out of Athi River laden with sacks of feed, the hope is that the era of expensive, substandard animal nutrition is finally over. For the smallholder farmer in Kiambu or Eldoret, this Sh3 billion structure is a lifeline.