Transforming Livestock Production through Systems Thinking Approach: the case of West Pokot and Narok Counties

Abstract

There have been a good number of livestock production studies in Kenya at micro-level. However, most of these micro-level analyses have not been able to show the feedback between the livestock sector and the rest of the economy. System dynamics is one of the powerful tools in the field of system thinking which can be used to show this interaction. In order to accomplish these, a series of interviews and workshops was undertaken to identify the problematic situation of smallholder beef farming in West Pokot and Narok Counties. To describe its linkages, this problematic situation was then translated into a causal loop diagram from which the systems archetypes were identified. The nature of each archetype is described, and the implications for identification of the possible system leverage points are discussed. This paper provides a preliminary insight into the application of system thinking in analyzing the small-holder beef production in Kenya.