Price of Kienyeji chicken meat in Nairobi

What is the price of Kienyeji chicken meat in Nairobi?

People in Nairobi like kienyeji chicken meat, but what is the best price for kienyeji chicken meat in Nairobi? What price is fair to the farmer and the consumer?

A few days ago, I started selling kienyeji chicken meat via social media, an experience that has taught me a critical lesson on chicken meat consumers’ behavior. Most chicken consumers especially those in Nairobi have no idea of the cost of production of a kienyeji chicken. Why do I say so? Am saying this because I have received customers who wanted to buy kienyeji chicken meat at a surprisingly low price, most of them gave rates that were half the price tag.

I went further to probe why they insisted on very low prices and this is what I had for an answer:

• When Nairobians visit their rural homes, they buy kienyeji chicken at such low prices,
• They also believe that kienyeji chicken are cheap to produce because they eat natural grass and naturally available feed in the village,

These justifications for the low prices though weird, make a lot of sense given that most Nairobians do not know how farming functions.

When a farmer sells his 2 kgs kienyeji chicken for 5 dollars (Ksh 500), the buyer must know that he is doing a very big injustice to the farmer. 

A kienyeji chicken weighing around 2 kgs should never be sold for anything less than 10 dollars (ksh 1000). If you understand what kienyeji chicken stands for, then this should be a no brainer.

An original keinyeji chicken is an indigenous breed that takes around six months or more to mature, while broiler chicken and improved kienyeji chicken take between 2 and 4 months respectively. Apart from the time taken for keinyeji chicken to mature, they have a very low feed conversation rate meaning that return on investment on feed is very low. Very little feed is converted to chicken body weight. Kienyeji chicken eat but rarely gain weight.

Read also: Difference between Kienyeji and broiler👇

Fair price for Kienyeji chicken farmers

It is expensive to raise an original kienyeji chicken to maturity, and only high prices can compensate the farmer adequately. 

Kienyeji chicken are preferred because of their delicious and unique taste as compared to broilers, and consumers should be ready to pay some extra coin for it.

If you live in town, please do not buy kienyeji chicken for less than ksh 1000 when you go to the village. This is the only way to promote farmers especially those who not do have access to the market where they can sell their birds.

If a kienyeji chicken is delivered to a market near you in Nairobi, please be ready to pay even more. 

Some farmers sell their birds for as little as 20 (Ksh 200) dollars, which is pathetic.

Let's stop exploiting farmers and practice good morals by buying from them at a good price without bargaining too much.

Do you agree?