How Keringet women are challenging traditions through dairy farming and artificial insemination

A quiet shift is taking place in the dairy sector in Keringet, not driven by new technology, but by a growing number of women breaking into the traditionally male-dominated field of artificial insemination (AI) of cows.

One of these women is Joan Chipkirui, who started working as an inseminator shortly after graduating from Kitale ADC in 2023. She remembers her early days as an uphill struggle.

“At first it was hard because people thought women couldn’t do this job,” she recalls. 'Changing that perception was difficult, but eventually they came around. Now they completely believe we can do it.”

Joan began her career independently, without the backing of a cooperative. She had to raise her own capital, including for an AI tank costing around Sh50,000. Initially, she relied on semen from KAGRIC and ADC, but the constant weekly refills meant travelling long distances, often all the way to Kitale.

Her breakthrough came when a zero-grazing farmer trusted her skills.

“He believed in me from day one. Even when he wasn't at home, he would call me and trust me with his cows. That gave me the confidence to keep going,” she says.

Today, Joan says the community’s mindset has shifted significantly. “Farmers now know that anyone, including women, can do this work. Some girls in my village have even gone on to study animal health because they saw me doing it.”

Joan hopes to establish an AI centre in Olenguruone or Keringet one day to improve access to semen and supplies.

“Imagine travelling all the way to Molo just for one straw. If I can raise enough capital, setting up a centre will benefit many inseminators,” she says.

However, she notes that there are still persistent challenges, particularly the difficulty farmers have in detecting signs of when the animal is ready to be inseminated.

“Sometimes they call when it’s too late or too early, and when conception fails, they think we don’t know what we're doing,” she says.

Joan adds that county subsidies have encouraged more farmers to transition from using bulls to AI.

"Inseminating a cow for Sh800 has really encouraged many farmers to make the switch,’ she says.

Valentine Rotich, another inseminator, began her journey in 2021 and now works with the Keringet Foods Cooperative Society. She says that she also faced initial scepticism.

“When I started out, farmers were afraid of low conception rates and repeat breeding, but things improved over time," Ms Rotich says.

But now she has become a role model.

“Many girls tell me they want to follow in my footsteps. They’ve seen that it's possible. These days, farmers even argue over who gets served first. They’ve realised that AI improves the quality of calves,” she says.

Looking ahead, she hopes to continue her professional growth.

“I want to be remembered as a good inseminator, a leader who changed things for farmers,” she says.

Together, these women are reshaping Keringet’s dairy landscape, demonstrating that it is resilience, skill and determination, rather than gender, that determine success in the field of artificial insemination.