L. Reynolds, T. Metz and J. Kiptarus
L. Reynolds is an agricultural research and development consultant. His
address is: 70 Springfield Crescent, Kibworth Beauchamp, Leicester LE8 0LH, UK.
T. Metz and J. Kiptarus can be contacted at the National Dairy Development Project, Kenya
Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock Development and Marketing, Hill Plaza, PO Box 34188,
Nairobi, Kenya.
Le pr�sent article d�crit l'�tat actuel de la production laiti�re en petite exploitation au Kenya et �voque la n�cessit� d'une expansion du secteur, de fa�on � r�pondre � la demande d'une population de plus en plus nombreuse. Il attire l'attention sur certains perfectionnements techniques prometteurs qui devraient aider les producteurs � faire face � l'�volution anticip�e des besoins.
En el presente art�culo se describen los logros conseguidos en la producci�n lechera por parte de peque�os propietarios en Kenya y se examina la necesidad de ampliar la industria para satisfacer la demanda futura de una poblaci�n en aumento, prestando especial atenci�n a las novedades tecnol�gicas con posibilidades que permitan a los productores satisfacer las necesidades previstas.
Before Kenya gained its independence in 1964, commercial dairy production was the sole preserve of white farmers and small-scale farmers were not allowed to own dairy cattle. Twenty-five years later, Kenya is broadly self-sufficient in milk and dairy products, with over 400 000 smallholder dairy farmers producing more than 70 percent of the marketed milk in the country. This article examines the dairy sector and the developments needed to meet future demand.
There are slightly over three million dairy cattle in Kenya, mainly black and white Friesians, Ayrshires, Channel Island breeds and various crosses, concentrated in high-potential areas near to centres of population (Table 1). The Central Province has the highest concentration of dairy cattle (106/km2), although by far the largest number of animals (1.7 million) are found in Rift Valley Province. These two provinces also have the highest numbers of dairy cattle per head of population and are the only areas fully capable of meeting local demand and providing surplus produce for other parts of the country. The high-potential highland areas, where temperature is moderated by altitude, receive a greater and more reliable rainfall than medium-potential areas that are predominantly found at lower altitudes. These factors largely explain the current distribution of dairy farming in Kenya, as forage production is related to rainfall, disease risk is reduced at higher altitudes and market demand arose from centres of population located in the highlands.
1
Numbers and distribution of dairy cattle in Kenya, 1991
Nombre et r�partition des bovins d'�levages laitiers au Kenya, en 1991
N�mero y distribuci�n de los vacunos lecheros en Kenya, 1991
Number of dairy cattle |
|||||
Province |
Area of agric. land ('000 km2) |
Agricultural population ('000) |
('000) |
Per km2 |
Per 1 000 caput |
Central |
7 859 |
3 398 |
830 |
106 |
244 |
Coast |
34 363 |
1 876 |
31 |
<1 |
17 |
Eastern |
40 290 |
3 950 |
281 |
7 |
71 |
Western |
5 889 |
2 662 |
115 |
20 |
43 |
Nyanza |
10 129 |
3 605 |
131 |
13 |
36 |
Rift Valley |
59 109 |
5 024 |
1 666 |
28 |
332 |
North East |
5 290 |
492 |
<1 |
<1 |
<1 |
Nairobi |
200 |
134 |
11 |
55 |
82 |
Total |
163 129 |
21 143 |
3 065 |
19 |
145 |
Source: Jaetzold and Schmidt (1982); Kenya Ministry of Livestock Development, 1991
The expansion in the distribution of dairy farms after independence was initially possible because of the availability of heifers and cows from the commercial farming sector and the subsequent use of imported and locally produced semen for artificial insemination. Initially, dairy cattle on small-scale farms were grazed, but as farm size decreased and grazing was less readily obtained, cultivated forages were adopted.
A variety of production systems are employed by smallholder dairy
farmers, ranging from stall-fed cut-and-carry systems, supplemented with purchased
concentrate feed in areas of high population density where extensive systems are not
possible, to free grazing on unimproved natural pasture in the more marginal areas. Exotic
dairy breeds tend to be kept in stall-feeding units, while free-grazing dairy animals are
more likely to be cross-bred cattle.
In order to meet market demand for milk from an expanding and increasingly urbanized
population, the National Dairy Development Project (NDDP), under the Kenya Ministry of
Agriculture, Livestock Development and Marketing, has been promoting intensive,
stall-feeding units for more than a decade. Farmers are encouraged to establish Napier
grass (Pennisetum purpureum), construct a stall-feeding unit and draw up a farm
budget. Where appropriate, farmers are assisted in approaching the Agricultural Finance
Corporation for loans to buy pure- or cross-bred in-calf dairy heifers. Regular visits
from specialized dairy extension workers reinforce extension messages to assist farmers in
the management of the enterprise. The NDDP, with over 4 500 registered dairy farmers,
is active in the high-potential areas of Central, Eastern, Western, Nyanza and Rift Valley
Provinces, and in the medium-potential areas of the Coast Province, adjacent to Mombasa.
It is estimated that 420 km2 of cultivated grass has been established, with
two-thirds of this in the Central Province, all of which is used for cut-and-carry feeding
(Kenya Ministry of Agriculture, 1991). In the high-potential areas only 10 percent of the
agricultural land remains under natural pasture, compared with 50 percent in
medium-potential areas, indicating that there is limited room for expanding agriculture in
the high-potential zone.
A direct comparison of independent dairy and NDDP farms was made in Kilifi District of
Coast Province between 1985 and 1987 by Leegwater, Ngolo and Hoorweg (1991). Kilifi is
representative of the medium-potential areas into which dairying is expected to expand in
the future. Rainfall and soil fertility are lower in Coast Province, and disease risk is
higher than in the highland areas. The average size across all dairy farms in Leegwater,
Ngolo and Hoorweg's survey was 11 ha, significantly larger than the NDDP farm average of
4.4 ha in Kilifi (van der Valk, 1992). This in turn was larger than the national average
for NDDP farms of 2.7 ha (NDDP, 1993). Leegwater, Ngolo and Hoorweg (1991) found that
farmers associated with the NDDP have greater access to resources (land and capital) than
independent dairy farmers.
Present estimates, based on farm size, land allocation and ecological
potential, indicate that smallholder dairy farmers can only produce 70 percent of the feed
required from their own resources. Nationally, within a survey group of 2 716 NDDP
farmers, 21 percent of farmland was planted to Napier grass. While almost all NDDP farms
have planted Napier grass, 41 percent also have natural pasture on-farm (0.89 ha). A small
proportion of farms (11 percent) have Napier grass-legume mixtures and 30 percent have
planted fodder trees (usually Leucaena leucocephala), but the areas are small.
Other roughage sources commonly used include maize stover, banana stems and roadside grass
(a generic term for natural pasture from a variety of sources) on 76, 62 and 34 percent of
farms, respectively. In addition, 29 percent of farmers report that they regularly
purchase fodder. The NDDP estimates that on-farm Napier grass production ranges from 5 to
22 tonnes/ha, but extension visits indicate that only two-thirds of the farms maintain
adequate amounts of fodder in the feed trough, preventing ad libitum access to
roughage for lactating cows. Less attention is paid to feed for young stock and dry cows,
who are often tethered outside the stall unit on natural pasture.
There is clearly a need to improve forage availability. Farmers are reluctant to allocate
more land to forage production, but increased yields per unit area could be achieved with
greater fertilizer input. Most farmers use manure for more than one type of crop, but
emphasis is placed on forage crops. Over 75 percent of farmers return at least half the
manure from the stall unit to Napier grass plots. There appears to be little scope for
improving the level of manure use, but qualitative changes to increase the efficiency of
storage and application may be feasible. At present, less than 40 percent of farmers use
inorganic fertilizer on forage plots, even though the financial returns are attractive.
Sales of commercial dairy feed in 1991 totalled around 60 000 tonnes, equivalent to only
0.2 kg/cow for each day of lactation. Other supplements are also used, such as brans and
brewer's wastes which increase the total additional feed offered to dairy animals. NDDP
farmers are reported to offer about 3 kg of all daily supplements to their lactating cows,
sufficient to increase milk production by 50 percent over the level expected from a purely
grass diet. Even though other supplements make up part of the total, NDDP farmers make
more use of commercially prepared dairy feeds than do independent small-scale dairy
farmers.
The survival rate of calves is affected by the value placed on them by farmers. Farmers
are advised to feed 415 kg of milk plus 70 kg of early weaner pellets to calves before
weaning. As can be seen in Figure 1, female calves are offered more milk than are male
calves. Female calves are valuable for herd replacements and for sale to other farmers.
The proportion of male calves receiving milk is surprisingly high, considering that only 7
percent of NDDP farms contained a bull over 15 months of age. The market price for meat
will not justify rearing a male calf on milk for slaughter, which suggests that farmers
may be raising males as part of a risk-avoidance breeding strategy.
1
Proportion of calves receiving milk, by age
Proportion de veaux au pis, par mois d'�ge
Proporci�n de terneros que reciben leche, por meses de edad
The NDDP survey in 1992 found that the median calving interval was 426
days. Artificial insemination (AI) was used in 54 percent of services, with just over half
resulting in a pregnancy. The efficiency of AI on zero-grazing farms is constrained by
poor heat detection and the unreliability of delivery of the service. In the face of
budgetary difficulties, with staff costs accounting for over 80 percent of the total
extension budget, charges were introduced for services with the eventual aim of
privatization. Initially, charges were set at K Sh 4 per insemination, although private
veterinarians were charging K Sh 30 (de Haan and Bekure, 1991). However, the real cost
varied from K Sh 20 to K Sh 250 depending on location, and there was little improvement in
the efficiency of the government service after the introduction of charges. In Machakos
District, where dairy cattle numbers increased by 11 percent annually during the 1980s
while cattle numbers overall remained static, farmers increasingly turned to natural
service (Akelo-Ogutu, 1991). Hence, access to good-quality bulls remains a critical factor
for the future of the dairy industry, even in high-potential areas where the provision of
AI services is most apparent.
There is evidence from Coast Province (Leegwater, Ngolo and Hoorweg, 1991) that the
mortality rate of calves on NDDP farms is lower than on non-NDDP smallholder dairy farms
(12 versus 28 percent). In the NDDP survey, between 40 and 50 percent of heifers over 15
months of age were pregnant, but the median age for a first pregnancy was 30 months.
Hence, farmers raising their own heifers face a lengthy unproductive period before cash
can be obtained from milk sales.
Exotic and cross-bred dairy cattle are the source of most of the marketed milk in Kenya, but they are more susceptible to disease than local zebu animals. In particular, East Coast Fever, a tick-borne disease, can have a severe impact on dairy cattle. Legislation requires cattle in high-potential areas to be regularly dipped to control ticks. In 1990, there were a total of 4 800 functioning dips operated by the Department of Veterinary Services. Charges for dipping were steadily raised to reduce the burden on the Treasury. Eventually, a policy of local management and full cost recovery was implemented so that, by mid-1992, almost 3 000 dips were supposed to be under the management of local dip committees, with initial short-term support from the government and the Department of Veterinary Service. It is estimated that a regular throughput of over 200 animals is needed for a dip to be economic, but numbers have fallen short even where dipping is required by law. While farmers were willing to pay for cross-bred and exotic dairy cattle to be dipped, they were less convinced of the cost effectiveness of treatment for zebu animals. The effectiveness of dipping under local management was also questionable, and farmers increasingly turned to hand-spraying at home, as evidenced by the increase in sales of small packs of acaricide.
Milk production and offtake from different classes of livestock are shown in Table 2. Marketed milk and dairy products arise exclusively from dairy cattle, although zebu cattle and camels are important sources of milk for home consumption.
2
Milk production and offtake in Kenya, 1991
Production laiti�re et pr�l�vement enregistr�s au Kenya, en 1991
Producci�n y extracci�n de leche en Kenya, 1991
Cattle |
Camels |
Sheep and goats |
||
Dairy |
Zebu |
|||
Number ('000) |
3 075 |
10 013 |
896 |
20 180 |
Percentage in milk |
30 |
15 |
15 |
25 |
Milk yield (kg/female/year) |
1 500 |
230 |
750 |
75 |
Human offtake (kg/female/year) |
1 200 |
75 |
400 |
1 |
Total offtake (1 000 tonnes/year) |
1 107 |
113 |
54 |
5 |
Source: Adapted from FAO (1985); Kenya Ministry of Livestock Development (1991).
The intensification of milk production is greater on NDDP farms than on other dairy farms. NDDP farmers' dairy herds are one-third the size of those of other dairy farmers, but they produce twice as much milk. Non-NDDP farmers had only one-third of their cows in milk, compared with 85 percent in NDDP herds. National daily milk yield averages 7.9 kg/day on NDDP farms, almost twice the estimated national average on non-NDDP farms (van der Valk, 1992; NDDP, 1993). Peak yields of 11.3 kg/day occur in the second month post-partum and remain relatively stable at 5 to 6 kg/day even in extended lactations after 12 months post-partum (Figure 2).
2
Average milk yield according to the stage of lactation of NDDP farm cows
Production laiti�re moyenne selon le stade de lactation des vaches dans les exploitations
relevant du NDDP
Producci�n media de leche seg�n la fase de lactaci�n de las vacas en las granjas del
NDDP
Although NDDP farmers are recommended to dry cows off after a ten-month lactation, a significant proportion of animals are milked for extended periods (Figure 3). Total milk yield on NDDP farms reaches 2 510 kg in ten months and 2 695 kg in a 12-month lactation. NDDP farmers retain a lower proportion of the total production for home consumption than do independent dairy farmers but both groups retained similar amounts, i.e. 1 to 2 kg/day (Huss-Ashmore, 1992).
3
Distribution of NDDP lactating cows according to stage of lactation
R�partition des vaches allaitantes selon le stade de lactation dans les exploitations
relevant du NDDP
Distribuci�n de las vacas lactantes por fases de lactaci�n en las granjas del NDDP
Arguably, market demand for milk and the ability of farmers to earn an attractive return from the sale of dairy products are the greatest stimuli for expansion of the dairy sector. Demand for dairy products is related to income, and hence the collection, processing and distribution system is largely organized to supply urban consumers who have greater purchasing power than rural communities. As shown in Table 3, during 1991 urban consumption of milk and dairy products was estimated to be 70 kg per caput/year, taking 52 percent of total marketed output of dairy produce. Unmarketed milk by definition is consumed by rural households with dairy cattle, zebu cattle and camels. The mean per caput annual consumption on dairy farms was 59 kg but consumption across all other rural households averaged only 38 kg per caput.
3
Annual consumption of milk and dairy products across different sections of population in
Kenya, 1991
Consommation annuelle de lait et de produits laitiers dans diff�rentes cat�gories de la
population au Kenya, en 1991
Consumo anual de leche y productos l�cteos en los distintos sectores de la poblaci�n en
Kenya, 1991
Dairy farms |
Other rural |
Urban |
|
Population (million) |
5.26 |
14.51 |
5.91 |
Milk offtake (`000 tonnes) |
1 107 |
172 |
- |
Proportion consumed at home |
0.28 |
1.00 |
- |
Total consumption (`000 tonnes) |
309 |
554 |
416 |
Per caput consumption (kg) |
58.7 |
38.2 |
70.4 |
Source: Adapted from FAO (1993).
Urban areas, where many international tourist hotels are located, are
particularly important markets for butter, cheese and other dairy products. About 80
percent of processed dairy products (other than liquid milk) are consumed in the Nairobi
and Mombasa areas, although they account for less than 15 percent of the national
population.
A guaranteed market for producers was offered by the Kenya Cooperative Creameries (KCC)
which held a monopoly for many years. Prices were set annually by government decree, so
producers knew how much they would get from milk sales. In 1992 a more open market was
permitted, and prices for milk and dairy products were decontrolled outside the main
markets of Nairobi and Mombasa. Where possible, milk is sold locally at a higher net price
than that received from the KCC, but in high-potential areas there is a surplus of milk
over local demand. In high-potential areas, dairy cooperatives play an important role in
marketing and in organizing collection and delivery to the KCC. Producers have to meet the
cost of transporting milk to the KCC. Currently, there are about 700 dairy cooperatives
handling 80 percent of the milk that passes through the KCC.
Two socio-economic studies have been undertaken in Coast Province, where small-scale dairy production is less well established than it is in the central highlands. The standard of living of the population of Coast Province is lower than the Kenyan average, and the introduction of dairying by NDDP was expected to bring both nutritional and economic benefits for dairy farming households. Huss-Ashmore (1992) found that livestock farmers (NDDP and independent) in Coast Province had considerably more land, larger households and higher incomes than the general coastal population. The customers of NDDP farmers also had relatively high incomes, primarily owing to off-farm employment. Adoption of intensive dairying was associated with households that had a steady cash income, either from off-farm employment or from cash crops. Two divergent strategies were employed in the NDDP households: one group used family labour for the dairy enterprise and relied on cash cropping for a substantial proportion of farm income; the other group substituted cheaper hired labour to work with the cattle, and directed family labour to off-farm employment, thereby spreading risk. NDDP farms employing labourers had more cows than those relying on family labour. They also had a higher total income and almost as much income arising from off-farm employment as the overall income on family-only dairy farm households (Table 4). Thus, the wealthier households, comprising a large proportion of the small-scale dairy sector, created rural employment opportunities for others.
4
Characteristics of NDDP households in Coast Province, with and without employed labour
Caract�ristiques des m�nages relevant du NDDP situ�s dans la Province c�ti�re, avec
et sans main-d'uvre embauch�e
Caracter�sticas de los hogares del NDDP en la provincia costera, con y sin empleo de mano
de obra
Households with employed labour |
Households with family labour only |
|
Cows per household |
3.86 |
1.86 |
LABOUR FORCE |
||
Household members |
3.2 |
2.8 |
Household members employed off-farm |
1.5 |
0.8 |
Employed labourers |
1.4 |
0 |
HOUSEHOLD INCOME1 |
||
Food crops |
744 |
718 |
Cash crops |
250 |
1 330 |
Livestock |
2 181 |
1 147 |
Off-farm employment |
3 461 |
756 |
Total household income |
6 626 |
3 951 |
1 K Sh/year (1 US$ = K Sh 28 in 1991).
Source: Leegwater, Ngolo and Hoorweg (1991).
Studies in the Kenyan highlands have indicated that, with increasing commercialization, the control of income from milk sales shifts from women to men, in a similar manner to income from horticulture and other traditional female enterprises (Huss-Ashmore and Curry, 1992). Income accruing to women is more likely to be used to provide food for the households. While undernourishment is prevalent in children throughout Coast Province, better nutritional status was associated with smaller household size, higher income and steady sources of income such as wage employment or dairying. Nutritional status was sharply higher for families of labourers employed on dairy farms compared with the general population.
Government policy, as expressed in the National Food Policy (Kenya
Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock Development and Marketing, 1993a) and the Kenya Dairy
Development Policy (Kenya Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock Development and Marketing,
1993b) is to maintain a position of broad self-sufficiency, establish reserve stocks to
ensure security of food supply and ensure an equitable distribution of foodstuffs to each
section of the community. The dairy sector is expected to become more intensive and its
output to rise through facilitated access to appropriate production technologies and
inputs.
The processing and marketing system will become more efficient and self-sustaining through
policies designed to encourage competition. In the veterinary field, AI and clinical
services are being privatized and government financial support for the running of dips is
being withdrawn. Dairy cooperatives are being encouraged to increase the range of services
they offer to their members, and to work more closely with private veterinarians.
To assist in this changeover, the government is to emphasize livestock extension within
the dairy sector, improve access of small-scale producers to credit facilities, lower
taxes on a range of imported inputs and stimulate oilseed production within Kenya to
increase availability of supplementary feed. Price structures have been liberalized and
the KCC is to be reorganized so as to respond better to the needs of the dairy industry.
Other locally based processing and marketing organizations will be encouraged to compete
with the KCC. The importance of an adequate all-weather rural road network is recognized,
in order to enable new areas in high-potential zones to deliver their perishable dairy
produce to market.
The population of Kenya is 26 million, 23 percent of whom live in urban areas. By 2003 the population is predicted to rise to more than 36 million, with urban numbers increasing faster than the rural population, partly because of migration in search of employment (Winrock International, 1992). Elasticity of demand for livestock products is three to five times higher than for cereals, so if real incomes rise, the demand for livestock products increases faster than demand for cereals. The projected demand for marketed liquid milk in 2003 is shown in Table 5 based on three growth scenarios.
5
Demand estimates for marketed liquid milk in Kenya
Demande estim�e de lait liquide commercialis� au Kenya
Estimaci�n de la demanda de leche l�quida comercializada en Kenya
Demand ('000 tonnes) |
||||
Year |
Growth scenario |
Urban |
Rural |
Total |
1990 |
360 |
368 |
728 |
|
2003 |
Low |
800 |
403 |
1 203 |
Medium |
910 |
490 |
1 400 |
|
High |
1 106 |
662 |
1 771 |
Source: FAO (1993).
Predictions of the number and distribution of dairy cattle in 2003 are shown in Table 6, based on a 1.5 percent annual increase in animal numbers. Assuming small improvements in reproductive performance and milk yield for the national dairy herd, milk offtake could be sufficient to meet the high growth rate and demand scenario. However, to reach this output, an intensification of production will be needed with greater reliance on supplementary feeding, over and above feedstuffs currently produced on-farm. As population increases and demand for land rises, farm size will shrink. To increase output, farmers will be forced to produce more forage from less land and to use more purchased supplements. As indicated earlier, greater use of manure and/or inorganic fertilizers will increase per hectare forage yields. Increased supplementary feeding will depend on the reliability and availability of supply as well as on the attractiveness of profit margins. Kenya could be self-sufficient in oilseeds, of which protein concentrates are a by-product after the extraction of oil for human consumption but, at present, cooking oil is derived from imported palm oil and very little oilseed is grown in the country. The continued importation of oilseed cake for animal feed depends on the availability of foreign exchange - local sourcing of supplies would be less dependent on external factors.
6
Predicted numbers and distribution of dairy cattle in Kenya for 2003
Pr�visions concernant le nombre et la r�partition des bovins d'�levages laitiers au
Kenya, en 2003
N�mero y distribuci�n previstos de los vacunos lecheros en Kenya para el a�o 2003
Number of dairy cattle |
|||||
Province |
Area of agric. land ('000 km2) |
Agricultural population ('000) |
('000) |
Per km2 |
Per 1 000 caput |
Central |
7 859 |
4 846 |
859 |
109 |
177 |
Coast |
34 363 |
2 675 |
37 |
1 |
14 |
Eastern |
40 290 |
5 634 |
336 |
8 |
60 |
Western |
5 889 |
3 796 |
137 |
23 |
36 |
Nyanza |
10 129 |
5 141 |
157 |
15 |
31 |
Rift Valley |
59 109 |
7 164 |
1 992 |
33 |
27 |
North East |
5 290 |
702 |
<1 |
<1 |
<1 |
Nairobi |
200 |
192 |
13 |
65 |
68 |
Total |
163 129 |
30 150 |
3 532 |
22 |
117 |
Source: Adapted from Kenya Ministry of Livestock Development (1991).
When the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) listed its
research priorities, dairying came top of the list because of the contribution to national
GDP, national food security, likely improvement in output, the probability of research
success and of adoption by farmers, employment opportunities and an equitable distribution
of benefits to broad sections of the community (KARI, 1991).
The needs of dairy farmers are dependent on location. In high-potential areas, solutions
are needed for problems of intensification. In medium-potential areas, such as in Coast
Province, attention is focused on reducing risks - disease risk, especially of East Coast
Fever and trypanosomiasis; risk to forage supplies, especially from cultivated forages
with poor rainfall - and on optimizing breeding systems where farms are too dispersed for
AI services to be economically viable. Particular attention is given to adaptive research
to ensure that promising technology is suited to local circumstances. KARI, in
collaboration with the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and the extension
service within the Kenya Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock Development and Marketing are
cooperating with farmers to conduct on-farm research in parallel with regional on-station
research.
Forage from grass-legume combinations for cut-and-carry feeding have shown particular
promise in terms of dry matter yield and quality and in raising milk production
on-station. They have also proved acceptable to farmers (Murithi et al., in press;
Muinga, Thorpe and Topps, 1992). These agronomic and feeding studies have demonstrated a
sustainable production system, appropriate to smallholder resources for both high- and
medium-potential areas of the country. However, while the Napier grass species is
productive under good rainfall conditions, it is less persistent under frequent harvesting
when rainfall is low and sporadic. Further research is needed to produce adoptable and
sustainable, intensive forage production for dairy farms in medium-potential areas.
In Africa, Kenya is at the forefront of the move towards privatization and market
liberalization for the dairy industry. This will be a fruitful area of research, providing
valuable information for other countries considering similar action.
Farmers will accept a degree of risk in adopting production systems when
they are assured of a profitable market outlet. More affluent farmers, which in the
small-scale sector means those with regular off-farm income, can accept higher levels of
risk. Research to reduce risk, rather than to maximize production, will widen the spread
of benefits in the community. Small-scale dairy production offers a route to increase
rural employment and improve household welfare. Technology to intensify production in
high-potential areas, where the majority of dairy farms are located, has been developed by
KARI and the NDDP. Collaborative on-farm research, involving researchers, extension staff
and farmers, to reduce risk in parallel with on-station studies will provide technology
options to expand dairying in medium-potential areas.
Organization and infrastructural constraints are also important. Privatization and market
liberalization are designed to alleviate problems caused by limitations in public
finances. However, expansion of the dairy industry into medium-potential areas must be
supported by government-provided services until there are sufficient producers for private
sector services to be financially viable.
Kenya should be able to meet projected demand for milk and dairy products, and the
relative success of the strategies employed will provide lessons for other countries
wishing to develop their own dairy sector.
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p. 45-94. Overseas Development Institute Working Paper No. 55. London, ODI.
de Haan, C. & Bekure, S. 1991. Animal health services in sub-Saharan Africa.
Initial experiences and alternative approaches. Technical Paper No. 134. Washington,
DC, World Bank.
FAO. 1985. Population supporting capacity study for Kenya - Animal production
study. A proposed model for estimating the human food supply produced by animals in Kenya,
by P.H. Sloane. Rome. 23 pp.
FAO. 1993. Dairy Development Project. Report No. 34.93 CP-KEN 33. Rome.
Huss-Ashmore, R. 1992. Nutritional impact of intensified dairy production: an
assessment in Coast Province, Kenya. ILRAD Technical Report No. 1. Nairobi, ILRAD. 35
pp.
Huss-Ashmore, R. & Curry, J.J. 1992. Impact of improved livestock disease
control on household diet and welfare: a study in Uasin Gishu District, Kenya. ILRAD
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Natural conditions and farm management information, Parts A, B and C. Nairobi, Kenya
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KARI. 1991. Kenya's agricultural research priorities to the year 2000.
Nairobi, KARI. 110 pp.
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Kenya Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock Development and Marketing. 1993a. Sessional
Paper No. 3 of 1993 on National Food Policy. Nairobi. 53 pp.
Kenya Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock Development and Marketing. 1993b. Kenya
Dairy Development Policy: a strategy towards the development of a self-sustaining dairy
sector. Nairobi. 25 pp.
Kenya Ministry of Livestock Development. 1991. Annual Report. Nairobi.
Leegwater, P., Ngolo, J. & Hoorweg, J. 1991. Dairy development and nutrition
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