Abstract
The objective of this review was to determine challenges and opportunities facing dairy cattle production in Homa Bay County, which lies within the Lake Victoria basin. Three cattle production systems were included: farms keeping indigenous breeds; farms keeping crosses of indigenous and exotic breeds and farms keeping exotic breeds. Both primary and secondary data were collected using questionnaires, key informant interview, published grey literature sources and institutional websites. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and One-way analysis of variance used as inferential analysis at 5% level of significance, while qualitative data were summarized using themes. Among the different cattle breeds raised, milk was predominantly produced by indigenous type. Most farms owned about 4 acres of land, with farms keeping indigenous breeds owning 7 herds of cattle while farms keeping crosses and pure exotic breeds kept 4 and 3 herds of cattle, respectively. Daily milk yield from exotic breeds was 18 L, while indigenous breed produced 1.7 L. Milk was sold to neighbours, local markets and for household consumption. Farmers faced challenges with regard to quality and unavailability of feeds during drought periods, controlling livestock diseases, sources of information and breeding services. The County government and its development partners implemented projects on dairy productivity: fixed-time artificial insemination project and introduction of Brachiaria grass which is drought resistant and have high protein content. This report presents findings which are important for policy making on dairy farming and lessons on how public and private sector partnership can alleviate challenges facing dairy farming. Key words: Challenges and opportunities, dairy cattle farming, western Kenya.
Highlights
Dairy cattle farming in Kenya contributes about 14% of Agricultural Gross Domestic Product with an estimated annual growth rate of 4.1% (Behnke and Muthami, 2011)
Most of the dairy animals raised in Homa Bay County were of indigenous breed of cattle, estimated at 180,048 herds of cattle, constituting about 97% of animal population; there was a smaller population of exotic breeds of dairy cattle comprising about 4,848 herds of cattle which were raised under intensive farming systems that constitute about 3% of the animal
Indigenous cattle population were the main source of milk produced within Homa Bay County, but there is a significant contribution in milk production from the emerging farms that are keeping exotic breed of cattle with their crosses and dairy goats
Summary
Dairy cattle farming in Kenya contributes about 14% of Agricultural Gross Domestic Product with an estimated annual growth rate of 4.1% (Behnke and Muthami, 2011). These include applying agricultural ecological processes such as continuous housing of cows, practicing cut-and-carry feeding system, introduction of purpose bred forages, pastures and agroforestry within the dairy systems, utilization of modern livestock breeding techniques including importation of dairy breeds and crossbreeding of indigenous cattle with exotic breeds, and other types of socio-economic intensification. It is reported that smallholder dairy farmers own over 80% of the dairy cattle population in Kenya, and they produce over 56% of total milk output in the country (Kaitibie et al, 2010; Odero-Waitituh, 2017) These cattle are raised under both intensive and semi intensive systems with the predominant breeds kept comprising of Friesian, Guernsey, Ayrshire, Jersey and their crosses (Bebe et al, 2003). The Friesian, Ayrshire, and Jersey cattle breeds are preferred because of the high level of milk yield as compared to the zebu, which is preferred for their hardiness and disease resistance
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