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President William Ruto on Saturday visited Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Institute of Science and Technology’s sericulture project.
It’s a Joint Venture with Silk Origin Ltd, which has planted 400k trees in Asiego, Siaya and Bondo. The venture is rearing silk worms to manufacture silk products.
The sericulture between Bondo University and the private investor Silk Origin Ltd, is a pointer to the future for our Universities as Govt faces competing demands for finite resources.
Our Universities can leverage their research expertise towards demand driven research for monetization by the private sector; to the mutual benefit of both parties.
The Sericulture project aligns with the Kenya Kwanza vision for improvement of livelihoods through job creation and new economic opportunities with a new cash crop.
Mulberry trees are a cash crop with potential to mitigate climate change through rapid afforestation.
The entire silk value chain offers an opportunity for new foreign exchange earnings that will have a positive impact both for Siaya County and the country at large. Silk is a valuable textile globally, and it needs intensive labour which is uniquely, what Kenya is blessed with. Silkworms have to be fed every 3 or 4 hours and Kenya’s climate is ideal both for growing Mulberry trees & rearing silkworm.
There is significant local and global demand for silk. Sericulture offers farmers significant potential for income generation and job creation and is a pathway to improved per capita income and gross domestic product (GDP), as well as being a foreign trade stimulator.
In addition, Moriculture and Sericulture have potential to revitalise rural economies, significantly contribute to reforestation, textile manufacturing, agricultural innovation, rural industrialisation, biogas production food security (mulberry leaves and berries offer strong nutritinal value with key minerals and vitamins, and medicinal benefits including lowering blood sugar levels), and provide an array of diversified income streams through numerous by-products (sutures, serums and oils, teas, jams, wine, cattle fodder).