Government Introduces E-Voucher System for Animal Vaccination Nationwide
The government has announced major reforms to the country’s animal vaccination programme, unveiling a new e-voucher system that will directly impact livestock owners across Kenya.
On Wednesday, June 4, President William Ruto revealed that the government will roll out an electronic vaccination system aimed at streamlining the tracking and management of livestock health. The announcement followed a consultative meeting with the Council of Governors (CoG), where key intergovernmental development projects were reviewed.
“In our meeting with governors, we evaluated the progress of shared development projects. As part of our efforts to modernize livestock management, we will register farmers and implement an e-voucher system to enhance animal traceability and improve vaccination efficiency,” President Ruto said.
The e-voucher system is modelled after the successful fertiliser subsidy programme, which allows registered farmers to receive digital vouchers and purchase subsidised fertiliser from approved vendors. Registration for the programme is done via the Kenya Integrated Agriculture Management System (KIAMS), with farmers receiving e-vouchers through SMS or other digital channels.
Similarly, the animal vaccination e-voucher programme will ensure that only registered livestock owners receive vaccines for their animals, enabling real-time tracking of vaccinated livestock and creating a centralized digital record-keeping system.
The government has set an ambitious target of vaccinating 22 million cattle and 50 million goats and sheep under the new system. President Ruto defended the initiative, stating that it is crucial to eliminating livestock diseases such as foot-and-mouth disease and peste des petits ruminants (PPR).
However, the move has drawn criticism from the Kenya Veterinary Association (KVA), which raised concerns about the mass vaccination rollout. The association flagged four key risks and called for the exercise to be postponed to allow for further evaluation and planning.
Despite the backlash, the government maintains that the digitization of the animal health sector through the e-voucher platform will increase accountability, reduce fraud, and improve service delivery to livestock farmers nationwide.
