Abstract
Pastoral households are increasingly practising fodder production in response to forage scarcity associated with land degradation, climate variability and change. Understanding the grass seed value chain is a prerequisite for developing sustainable fodder production and guiding appropriate out-scaling in the drylands. This study investigated the producers’ perspectives on grass seed production, marketing and challenges faced along the grass seed value chain in Marigat Sub-County of Baringo County, Kenya. The results show that the dominant actors were the bulking and processing agents who provided inputs and were a source of grass seed market to the producers. The producers preferred contractual agreements that allowed them to sell their grass seed to markets of their choice. As independent grass seed traders allowed for seed price negotiation, they were popular amongst the producers and thus handled the most volume of seeds marketed. Drought occurrence, inability of existing outlets to purchase grass seed at times, together with low prices offered for producers’ grass seed were found to be among the challenges facing the producers. There is need to strengthen the fodder groups with a possibility of registering them as cooperatives for the purpose of collective bargaining for better grass seed prices.
Highlights
Livestock plays an important role in many developing countries’ agricultural sector
The first stage comprises the input providers which include fodder farmers who provide their own labour on their farms, ploughing service providers that comprised Kerio Valley Development Authority (KVDA), and Rehabilitation of Arid Environments (RAE) Trust and famers who provide grass seed and ploughing services as well
Other actors involved in grass seed production included KVDA, RAE Trust and Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO)
Summary
Livestock plays an important role in many developing countries’ agricultural sector In these countries, livestock production is constrained by the perennial challenge of fodder scarcity which reduces sustainable livestock development and often leads to conflicts over grazing lands among pastoral communities. In Ethiopia, for instance, effective interventions that can address feed scarcity which limits the productivity and profitability of livestock production can lead to improved pastoral livelihoods. Grass seeds vastly produced are from annual and perennial varieties of ryegrasses, and much of the production is consumed within the various production regions, by the USA and within the EU (Wong 2005). In the USA, Oregon State produces about a third of the grass seed on the world market and its grass seed
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
