Kenya is rolling out an ambitious plan to double its annual livestock vaccine production to 70 million doses by 2027, in a major push to improve animal health, boost food security, and strengthen its position as a regional vaccine supplier.

The move is part of the Kenya Veterinary Vaccines Production Institute's (Kevevapi) newly launched 2023–2027 Strategic Plan, which aims to ease access to affordable and quality animal vaccines for local farmers and neighboring countries. Currently, the institute produces 35 million doses annually.

Speaking during the launch of the Sh10.8 billion plan in Nyeri, Agriculture and Livestock Development Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe said the institute plays a crucial role in safeguarding the country’s livestock sector and positioning Kenya as a leading producer and exporter of animal vaccines.

Kagwe noted that Kenya is already supplying vaccines to over 14 countries, and that more markets are being targeted across the continent, including Rwanda, Burundi, Djibouti, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Mali.

“When we went to Paris for the World Health Organization meeting, I made sure I pointed out that Kenya is an animal vaccines producer. Since then, I have received many calls from people who want to buy vaccines from us,” Kagwe said.

“As you know, Kevevapi is an animal vaccine producer and one of the very few in the African continent. We are very proud that we export many vaccines to many countries. Most of them have been in Africa, but increasingly outside the continent and this is an important and very strategic institution for Kenya because without it we will not be able to secure animals in our nation,” he added.

Between 2018 and 2022, Kevevapi produced 177.2 million doses of 14 different vaccines, with 11.3 million doses exported.

As part of the new plan, the government intends to upgrade Kevevapi’s facilities to meet international manufacturing standards, a move expected to improve vaccine output and ensure readiness to respond to livestock diseases such as foot and mouth, lumpy skin disease, and Peste des Petits Ruminants.

Kagwe said demand for animal vaccines is on the rise as international markets become more cautious about animal health and food safety, noting that Kenya aims to be declared disease-free in the next three years.

“The demand for vaccines globally is going up because of the insistence by most of the consumers to know that the animals they are eating are healthy. And this is one of the reasons we have embarked on a mass vaccination campaign to ensure that Kenya is declared one of the countries that are disease free in the next three years, so that the importers of our livestock can do so knowing that they are safe and secure not just for food but also for sustenance in their own countries,” the CS said.

Kagwe also addressed misinformation surrounding the ongoing mass vaccination efforts, dismissing claims that the vaccines in use were donated by foreign entities.

“There was propaganda about the source of our vaccines that they were donated to us by an American tycoon. That is not true. The truth of the matter is that Kenya is an exporter of vaccines. We export foot and mouth disease vaccines to other parts of the continent, so it would not make sense for us to say that we are importing the vaccines while at the same time exporting,” he said.

Livestock Development Principal Secretary Jonathan Mueke, who also attended the event, praised Kevevapi for aligning its goals with the government’s Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda, especially in the area of food security and nutrition.