Maria Mbeneka Mutua often lets her gaze rest on a gleaming trophy on her desk in her quiet office in Karen, Nairobi.

It is not just for display. Sometimes, she pauses mid-conversation to look at it, as if replaying her journey from courtrooms to cattle corridors and from legal briefs to livestock sheds.

The inscription reads 'Woman of the Year Award'. For Maria, it represents more than recognition. It symbolises the years she has spent overcoming trials, reinventing herself, and believing in a livestock system that she claims can unlock Africa’s rural economy.

During the interview with Seeds of Gold, she glanced at it again, smiled faintly and remained silent for a few seconds—an unspoken reflection on how far she has come.

The award was presented at the Tri-Nations Livestock Expo 2026, held in Tanzania from June 19 to 21. This event brought together stakeholders in the livestock sector from East Africa and beyond, showcasing innovation, strengthening partnerships and accelerating transformation in the sector.

“I was selected from three finalists drawn from Kenya, Tanzania, and Namibia,” she said. The judging panel comprised international livestock and SME experts, including a seasoned rancher from Nebraska in the United States with over a century of family ranching experience, as well as development finance and agribusiness specialists.

Maria Mbeneka Mutua, CEO and co-founder of Ranch Experts Ltd, a Laikipia County-based livestock company, at her office in Karen, Nairobi on June 29, 2026. She is holding the displays the trophy she received during the Tri-Nations Livestock Expo 2026 held in Tanzania.

Photo credit: Sammy Waweru | Nation Media Group

The award recognises innovation, technology adoption and measurable transformation in livestock systems, particularly in relation to her work building structured aggregation networks and introducing digital solutions in pastoral markets.

“'When my name was announced, I was overwhelmed. It didn’t feel real at that moment. I knew about the work we had done on the ground, but hearing it recognised at that level made me realise how far-reaching it had become,” she recalls.

She adds that the award was not just personal validation; it was also a recognition of the thousands of pastoralists, especially women, who form the backbone of the system that she co-created.

Maria is the CEO and co-founder of Ranch Experts Ltd, a technology-driven, female-led livestock agribusiness operating in the areas of livestock aggregation, feedlot management, adding value to hides and skins, and digital livestock trading via its Flockr platform.

A practising lawyer, she is also the Managing Partner at Mbeneka LLP and the Treasurer of the Commonwealth Lawyers Association. She has over 23 years of legal experience, having fully ventured into agribusiness only recently.

Ranch Experts was founded around five years ago, although its roots can be traced back to earlier ventures in the livestock trade. Around 2005, Maria and her co-founder ran a slaughterhouse in Rumuruti, which later began supplying meat to markets in Nairobi.

By 2011, she recounts, the business had grown to encompass value-added meat supply chains, supported by private investment.

However, inconsistencies in meat quality revealed a key issue: they had no control over livestock production. “That gap triggered a strategic shift into production and aggregation to secure quality, traceability, and consistency from the source,” she explains.

The company started with around 200 goats and a small cattle operation. Today, Ranch Experts manages around 200 cattle and plans to increase this number to 400. The company also operates feedlot infrastructure with a capacity of 1,000 cattle. Expansion plans in Tana River aim to increase capacity to around 2,000 cattle and support the sale of approximately 80 cattle per week.

She says that her deeper engagement with rural livestock systems was also shaped by a maternal health initiative in Laikipia County between 2020 and 2021.

Through her ‘goat-for-delivery’ programme, traditional birth attendants were incentivised with goats for every delivery they facilitated at health facilities.

Around 450 goats were distributed in Laikipia North, many of which multiplied into viable herds through natural reproduction. The programme revealed that women in pastoral communities were already involved in livestock systems beyond their healthcare roles.

“We realised that these women were not only health workers, but also livestock custodians,” she says. Building on this insight, she and her co-founder formalised the aggregation of livestock through women-led networks.

They started with around 50 trained traditional birth attendants and later expanded into structured groups such as the Chui Mamas. These groups now comprise over 1,000 women across Laikipia, Samburu, and Isiolo counties.

Today, Ranch Experts Ltd has trained and engaged more than 4,500 pastoralists, around 70 per cent of whom are women and young people. "These groups are organised into chamas and cooperatives that support structured livestock aggregation, enabling small-scale producers to access larger, more reliable markets," Maria observes.

At the heart of this model is aggregation: bringing together farmers who own small herds to create a collective supply system that meets commercial demand. Rather than selling a few goats individually at low prices, farmers now pool their supplies, access better markets, and receive training in breed selection, weight standards, and export requirements.

She states that export markets such as Oman, Dubai, and Saudi Arabia prefer younger, lighter animals for efficiency and meat quality, while local markets vary depending on demand cycles. "For example, goats in local markets usually sell for between Sh6,000 and Sh8,000, depending on their size and quality. However, export grades require more stringent specifications regarding age and weight," she tells Seeds of Gold.

In order to support this ecosystem, Maria co-developed Flockr, a digital livestock marketplace that connects farmers directly with buyers, and which integrates veterinary services, logistics coordination, insurance, financing and real-time price intelligence. The platform provides weekly updates on beef, mutton and chicken prices to help farmers make informed production and sales decisions. This tool has played a significant part in the digitisation of the company’s operations.

Kenya’s livestock economy is valued at around Sh1 trillion, but remains under-optimised due to fragmentation and information gaps. The potential is there, but systems such as digital platforms are still lacking.

Initially, Ranch Experts Ltd worked with around 200 goats before expanding into cattle. Early cattle finishing trials included 30 Boran steers at Ol Pejeta Conservancy under a grazing arrangement. Maria says that this experience informed the development of their own feedlot system.

Despite growth, logistics remain a major constraint. For instance, transporting livestock from Laikipia to Nairobi costs around Sh45,000 for 18 cattle, while poor handling contributes to stress and losses of around 6 per cent. “Other challenges include multiple county cess charges, police checks and permit delays; all of which increase costs and reduce competitiveness,” Maria adds.

She contrasts this with the advanced livestock transport systems found in countries such as Australia and South Africa, where specialised vehicles ensure animal welfare and efficiency on a large scale.

Climate risk is another key challenge, although Maria acknowledges that index-based insurance systems, such as the World Bank-supported DRIVE programme, which uses satellite monitoring to track drought conditions and trigger payouts, have improved matters. This has reduced forced distress sales, which previously caused farmers to lose significant value during drought periods.

She highlights persistent inefficiencies in the hides and skins business, despite its high potential. While slaughterhouses produce large quantities, only a small amount reaches tanneries due to poor handling. However, she recognises opportunities for added value in the leather, pharmaceuticals, and related industries.

Maria continues to balance her legal practice with her role as an agribusiness leader, relying on delegation and a strong management team. She attributes her ability to sustain both worlds to discipline, systems thinking, and teamwork.

As she sets her sights on even greater milestones, she glances once more at the trophy, recognising that it represents what can be achieved through structured livestock systems and empowered women pastoralists.

swaweru@ke.nationmedia.com

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