Participants at the stakeholders’ workshop on livestock market information system held on 11 July 2017 in Naivasha, Kenya (photo credit: ILRI/Dorine Odongo)

Access to accurate and timely market information among pastoralist livestock producers and market actors is a perennial concern, even more so following the immense emphasis and efforts placed on improving livestock production in drylands. Livestock production being the major (and in most cases the only) source of livelihoods for communities in the drylands of Kenya, the need to address the full continuum of livestock production from breeding all the way to market access cannot be overemphasized.

Consequently, many attempts are being made by different stakeholders —both governmental and non-governmental actors— to collect real time market information. For example, the livestock component of the USAID Feed the Future Kenya Accelerated Value Chain Development project (AVCD) which seeks to increase income from sales of livestock focuses on enhancing…