Factors Influencing Uptake of Exotic Dairy Goats in Kitui West Sub-County, Kitui County, Kenya

Bwanawoy Philemon

doi:10.11648/j.ijsts.20170505.13

Abstract

This study investigated factors influencing uptake of exotic dairy goat farming in Kitui West Sub County, Kenya. Goat farming has gained popularity globally especially among small holder farmers and many countries are making tremendous efforts to support farmers improve their quality an productivity. Many smallholder farmers in Kenya have developed interest in exotic dairy goats farming and factors which enhance uptake were investigated. The study assessed and investigated socio-demographic, local community leadership, management practices and economic factors influencing uptake of dairy goats which should be addressed in the sub-County. The paper recommends interventions which can address impediments to uptake of dairy goats. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and was presented using percentages, frequencies, means and Tables. The findings showed that cultural background hindered respondents from effectively engaging in exotic dairy goats farming. From the Pearson moment correlation, there was a weak positive correlation between uptake of exotic dairy goats and social demographic factors with a correlation coefficient of 0.333 with a significant value of 0.001; which was less than 0.05. A correlation coefficient of 0.911 at 0.0003 level of confidence indicated a strong positive correlation between the uptake of exotic dairy goats farming and local community. Also strongly positively correlated was the uptake of exotic dairy goats farming and farm management skills with a correlation coefficient of 0.872 at 0.002 level of confidence. There was strong negative correlation between uptake of exotic dairy goat farming and economic factors with a correlation coefficient of 0.044 at 0.000 level of confidence. It was concluded that socio-economic factors are significant in determining uptake of exotic dairy goats farming. The study findings are important because they will assist in improving goat breeding and improve farmers’ income and livelihood. There is a need to strengthen awareness in order to change farmers’ attitude and enhance uptake of exotic dairy goats farming.

Highlights

Global rearing of exotic dairy goats has been on an upward trend in terms of stock and production [8]
The findings show that 74.4% of exotic dairy goat farmers received market information from fellow farmers, 73.7% of them relied on extension agents for market information, and 71.8% relied on radio for market information, whereas 66.0% relied on local leaders for market information
It was concluded that socio-demographic factors influenced the uptake of dairy goats farming in Kitui West Sub-County

Summary

Introduction

Global rearing of exotic dairy goats has been on an upward trend in terms of stock and production [8]. The trend of goat production systems has been directly proportional to the decreasing size of farms which haven’t been able to accommodate high number of goats. There has been a decrease in pastoral practices especially in the production of milk as their numbers increase. According to [26, 39], rearing of goats has been the tradition in some European Countries like Italy, Greece and France where cheese and goat milk production takes lead. The same trend has been experienced in the European nations like Austria and Germany. Goat population globally is estimated to be over 924 million with growth rate standing being 13 percent [19, 17]

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion