Commercial Viability of an Upgraded Koche, a Traditional Meat Product Prepared in Pastoral Regions of Kenya

Abstract

Commercialization of indigenous meat products is one of the major strategies for promoting and preserving indigenous knowledge. Commercialization of indigenous meat products can contribute to increased incomes and non-income benefits for processors and marketers. However indigenous meat products lack a competitive advantage along the formal meat value chains due to challenges in regards to processing, handling and storage. Koche is an indigenous ready to eat meat snack prepared from beef, camel or goat meat by the Borana community in Northern Kenya. The potential commercialization of Koche is largely dependent on the processing and market development. It was against this background that the project was conceptualized. The main objective was to determine the commercial viability of Koche with a view of mainstreaming the product into the formal meat chains. To accomplish this, the study was designed to assess the current status of processing and process analysis of Koche . This study also sought to evaluate the market potential of Koche. Focus group discussions and key informant interviews were used to collect data from 10 processors. Structured questionnaire interviews were also used to collect data from 196 consumers and 30 traders. The findings show that the processing of Koche relies largely on traditional techniques often with low competitiveness. Lack of equipment to ease processing of Koche (100%), lack of credit facilities (100%), insufficient capital (90%) and high cost of inputs (90%) were some of the main challenges facing Koche processors. Analysis of Koche returns to labour and variable cost were Kshs 12.1 and Kshs 0.92 respectively. The market outlets for Koche include sale in stalls (20%), street vending (73.3%) and Hotels (6.7%). Strict regulations by city council (30%), poor product quality (60%), and poor packaging material (46.7%) affected the marketability of Koche. According to the traders, the average number of consumers buying Koche was 5 to 10 per day.

The pastoral communities (89.3%) were the main consumers. At the same time other communities were reported to consume Koche. Koche was mainly bought since it was a cultural food and also due its health benefits. Significant predictors (p< 0.05) in the quantity of Koche purchased included income, ethnicity and household size. The process analysis of Koche was used to upgrade the indigenous meat product to a commercial level. The physicochemical and microbial qualities of Koche were within the acceptable limit up to day 5 of accelerated storage at 55oC. Koche packed in glass jars exhibited better keeping quality. The study concludes that promoting commercial Koche processing and marketing is one of the most important approaches for increasing the market share of Koche . This can support sustainable development of Koche through increased incomes for processors and marketers thus improved livelihoods. It can also ensure the enhancement and conservation of indigenous knowledge. However, to augment these objectives the challenges facing processors and traders should be seriously addressed