Kenyan Smallholder Research Articles

Ambiguity attitudes and demand for weather index insurance with and without a credit bundle: experimental evidence from Kenya

We investigate the impact of ambiguity attitudes on the willingness-to-pay (WTP) for index insurance among female smallholders in Kenya. We gauge incentive-compatible measures of ambiguity aversion and insensitivity in the domain of gains and losses, as well as loss aversion. Next, we setup a framed experiment to measure WTP for insurance with basis risk. For a random subsample we introduce an alternative ‘rebate’ insurance, comparable to an insurance purchased through a loan – repaid in good years and deducted from payout in bad ones – that is expectedly more palatable for the loss averse. We find that ambiguity aversion significantly increases WTP for the standalone insurance, while loss aversion reduces it as expected. The former result is seemingly at odds with previous evidence from the field, but is consistent with a setting in which insurance ambiguity engenders relatively less disutility compared to the vagaries of weather. We show that this apparent divergence is not caused by differences in the method used to estimate ambiguity aversion compared to existing field studies. Rather, we exploit exogenous variation in the familiarity with insurance within our sample to show that it is explained away by the role of experience with the novel technology—a previously underestimated mediator. Ambiguity aversion hinders adoption at early stages but increases when the insurance is better understood. The rebate scenario, instead, all but cancels the effect of loss aversion on WTP, but the increased contractual ambiguity results in significantly lower bids by the ambiguity averse. In the lab, the WTP for rebate-type insurance-credit bundles is not different from that of the actuarially equivalent standalone insurance, implying that evidence from the field on greater uptake for the former may be attributable to liquidity constraints and time discounting effects, rather than to behavioural traits.

Farmers’ Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices Regarding the Use of Agroecological-Based Pest Management Practices in Crucifers and Traditional African Vegetable (TAV) Production in Kenya and Tanzania

Crucifers and traditional African vegetables (TAVs) are important to smallholders in Kenya and Tanzania, but yield remains below potential due to pests and diseases. Agroecological production methods present a nature-based solution to pest and disease management in crucifer and TAV production. We explore the status of farmers’ knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding agroecological-based production pest management practices. Structured and pretested questionnaires were used to collect data from 1071 vegetable farming households in Kenya and Tanzania. Using descriptive statistics, parametric, and non-parametric analysis, our study revealed that less than 20% of farmers had received training on agroecological-based practices and less than 25% were aware of most of these practices. Among those who were aware of the practices and could confirm their effectiveness less than 12% had adopted them, except for crop rotation and handpicking of pests. This study attributes the low adoption to farmers’ negative attitudes towards the practices. Nonetheless, the study further revealed that training significantly and positively influences the adoption of the practices. Therefore, we recommend that governments and other stakeholders promote targeted awareness campaigns and increase access to training on vegetable production using sustainable pest and disease management practices.

The Use and Impact of Multi-Nutrient Fertilizers in Kenyan Smallholder Cropping Systems

Despite the documented advantages to multi-nutrient fertilizer application their use remains low across smallholder cropping systems in Kenya. A better understanding of the key influences that foster (and restrict) their use can chart a path for new ways to encourage innovation on-farm.

Pathways from climate change to emotional wellbeing: A qualitative study of Kenyan smallholder farmers living with HIV.

Climate change is associated with adverse mental and emotional health outcomes. Social and economic factors are well-known drivers of mental health, yet comparatively few studies examine the social and economic pathways through which climate change affects mental health. There is additionally a lack of research on climate change and mental health in sub-Saharan Africa. This qualitative study aimed to identify potential social and economic pathways through which climate change impacts mental and emotional wellbeing, focusing on a vulnerable population of Kenyan smallholder farmers living with HIV. We conducted in-depth, semi-structured interviews with forty participants to explore their experience of climate change. We used a thematic analytical approach. We find that among our study population of Kenyan smallholder farmers living with HIV, climate change is significantly affecting mental and emotional wellbeing. Respondents universally report some level of climate impact on emotional health including high degrees of stress; fear and concern about the future; and sadness, worry, and anxiety from losing one's home, farm, occupation, or ability to support their family. Climate-related economic insecurity is a main driver of emotional distress. Widespread economic insecurity disrupts systems of communal and family support, which is an additional driver of worsening mental and emotional health. Our study finds that individual adaptive strategies used by farmers in the face of economic and social volatility can deepen economic insecurity and are likely insufficient to protect mental health. Finally, we find that agricultural policies can worsen economic insecurity and other mental health risk factors. Our proposed conceptual model of economic and social pathways relevant for mental health can inform future studies of vulnerable populations and inform health system and policy responses to protect health in a changing climate.

Enhancing sustainable agri-food systems using multi-nutrient fertilizers in Kenyan smallholder farming systems

Persistent food insecurity in the global south has triggered calls for sustainable development worldwide. Moreover, more than a quarter of the world's population suffers from micronutrient deficiencies or hidden hunger. The population bulge, declining soil fertility and inadequate/inappropriate use of farm inputs in Sub-Saharan Africa place it in a precarious position. Multi-nutrient fertilizer blends have been mooted as a key innovation in closing yield gaps and boosting food and nutrition security. This study assessed the extent of multi-nutrient fertilizer blends utilization and yield response across agroecological zones and their on-farm profitability under Kenyan smallholder farmer conditions. We collected data through a detailed household survey conducted in eight counties in Kenya representative of high, medium, and low productivity zones using a sample of 1094 smallholder farmers. Multi-nutrient fertilizers increased maize yields significantly (P < 0.05), eliciting a 400% yield increase compared to the control and 108% greater maize yield than conventional fertilizers in the high potential zone. Conversely, at 3.7 t/ha conventional fertilizers elicited a significant (P < 0.05) yield response in Irish potatoes in the high potential areas. Multi-nutrient fertilizers increased on-farm profitability of crops, specifically for potato production systems where a benefit: cost ratio (BCR) of more than 2 was observed. Farmers may break even when they use multi-nutrient fertilizers on maize particularly in the low potential areas. Therefore, there is considerable potential for multi-nutrient fertilizers to increase crop productivity while being economically viable across agroecological zones and cropping systems. However, the uptake of multi-nutrient fertilizers among farmers is quite low across the country, except for small pockets where limited interventions have been carried out. This calls for sustained efforts to scale multi-nutrient fertilizers with a focus on clear messaging that stresses the need to apply appropriate rates of various nutrients including the secondary nutrients and micro-nutrients.

How Kenyan Potato Farmers Evaluate the Seed: Implications for the Promotion of Certified Seed Potato

Improving the quality of seed potatoes that smallholder farmers plant continues to represent one of the most important challenges of the potato sector in most developing countries to counter the long-lasting poor yields. This study aimed to better understand the way farmers choose seed potato by exploring the attributes they look for and the benefits they expect from them. We used means-end chains analysis in combination with Kelly’s repertory grid as an elicitation technique and disaggregated data for male and female partners. In total, farmers named 38 attributes they look for when selecting seeds. Farmers associate “good” seeds to those that are well-sprouted, have many eyes, are of a variety they know, are medium in size, are certified, and are undamaged. Most preferred attributes lead to a higher yield and consequently higher income which is the most predominant avenue for farmers to achieve their desired values in life. Female farmers mentioned fewer attributes and also pursued fewer values than their male counterparts. Users and non-users of certified seed were shown to use the same attributes to select their potato seeds. Non-users of certified seed thus seem to be aware of the benefits of certified seed even though they are not using it. The results from this study indicate that increasing the availability of certified seed is not necessarily a straightforward way of improving the quality of seed potato planted by Kenyan smallholder farmers.

The effects of landscape complexity and local management on a generalist predator in Kenyan maize push‐pull systems

AbstractFarmers looking to maximize ecosystem services often use diversification practices on their fields to increase abundance and diversity of insect natural enemies. These practices affect functional traits of natural enemies such as body size that can play an important role in their effectiveness as biological control agents. However, landscape features out of the control of farmers might also affect functional traits of natural enemies and their herbivores, including land use surrounding farms. There have been few studies elucidating how landscape complexity and local diversity interact to affect functional traits, and ultimately ecosystem services such as predation on herbivore pests. We examined combined effects of landscape complexity and a local management practice (push‐pull) on lady beetle size, and its consequences for egg predation of lepidopteran pests in Kenyan smallholder maize farms. Cheilomenes sulphurea (Olivier) (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), a potential predator of the invasive fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda J.E. Smith (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), was collected in push‐pull and control fields along a landscape gradient. We measured beetle size and conducted feeding assays with fall armyworm eggs. We found that female beetles had larger bodies in landscapes with greater complexity. Predation rates not only increased as a response to beetle size but also in response to landscape complexity, suggesting it is not just size that determines predation. Surprisingly, we did not find any effect of the local management practice or its interaction on functional traits or predation rates. Our study suggests that landscape complexity could benefit pest control through two mechanisms: (1) increase in predator body size, leading to higher predation rates; and (2) changes in predator behavior as a function of landscape characteristics – increasing egg predation. Further studies on these mechanisms would allow deeper understanding of landscape simplification's effect on ecosystem services, as mediated by morphological and behavioral traits, and help us harness these traits to increase biological control.

Use of a cow-side oestrus detection test for fertility management in Kenyan smallholder dairy herds.

Background: The use of artificial insemination (AI) has great potential to improve smallholder dairy herds in Africa, however poor success and, in some situations, high costs in Kenya, have been discouraging. Effective AI requires accurate oestrus detection and the measurement of progesterone (P4) can be used to indicate oestrus as well as non-pregnancy. A cow-side progesterone lateral flow test, P4 Rapid, was evaluated as an aid to detect oestrus and non-pregnancy in Kenyan dairy cows, and assessed for association with AI efficiency. Methods: A total of 527 cows were enrolled in the study, from two counties in central and southern Kenya. Cattle in the test group (n = 308) were presented when suspected to be in oestrus and tested with the P4 Rapid (low P4 = oestrus, medium P4 = inconclusive, high P4 = not in oestrus/pregnant). Cattle with low P4 were inseminated. Cattle in the control group (n = 219) were inseminated when oestrus behaviour was detected i.e. standard practice. Results: Of the total P4 Rapid tests performed (n = 745), 1.5% were inconclusive, with the true accuracy of the test between 87-97%. Conception rates were not significantly higher in the test group (83.9%) compared to the control group (77.9%). Abortion rates were not significantly different between the control (9.5%) and test groups (8.2%). In the test group, 6.2% (19/308) cows showed a medium or high P4 level on day 0 and nine of these were subsequently found to have been already pregnant. Conclusions: The data indicated that the P4 Rapid test can be a useful tool to assist farmer decision-making in the confirmation of correct timing for AI, and importantly may avoid unnecessary inseminations in pregnant animals, thus reducing the risk of AI-induced abortion.

Market access and dietary diversity: A spatially explicit multi-level analysis in Southern and Western Kenya

The risk of malnutrition, particularly micronutrient deficiency, is high in large parts of Sub-Saharan Africa for smallholder farmers. Access to diverse and nutritious food is a key component of food security, and a major development objective. It is widely accepted that good access to markets can play a key role in improving nutrition at the foodshed level. However, the magnitude and even the direction of the effect of increased market access on household dietary diversity (and thus food security) is not universal, with studies showing divergent results. One reason for these divergences may be that models do not account for place-based mediation effects, that is, farmers' local context can affect whether (and the extent to which) access to market is important to their nutrition. Drawing on household survey data from 914 Kenyan smallholder farmers from ten counties in South and West Kenya, we used a novel methodology to evaluate the role of market access in determining household dietary diversity. This methodology combines the clustering of households along places with similar characteristics and multi-level regression analysis to understand the place based variation in effects of different factors on dietary diversity. We found that, depending on how “access to market” is measured, there can be significant impacts on dietary diversity, and this is mediated by farm characteristics. For small farms with already good market access, higher diet diversity is associated with cultivating larger areas and owning larger livestock holdings, but not with easier market access. For isolated larger farms with a focus on livestock production, higher diet diversity is associated with easier market access (i.e., proximity to road), as well as greater livestock diversity. For medium-sized farms with good market access, diet diversity is mildly correlated with easier market access (i.e., proximity to road) but significantly associated with greater crop diversity. The need to account for place-based mediating effects is clearly important and highlights an exigency for greater use and development of localized models that can capture the extent to which effects might change when contexts change.

Use of a cow-side oestrus detection test for fertility management in Kenyan smallholder dairy herds.

Background: The use of artificial insemination (AI) has great potential to improve smallholder dairy herds in Africa, however high costs and often poor success rates have been discouraging. Effective AI requires accurate oestrus detection and the measurement of progesterone (P4) can be used to indicate oestrus as well as non-pregnancy. A cow-side progesterone lateral flow test, P4 Rapid, was evaluated as an aid to detect oestrus and non-pregnancy in Kenyan dairy cows, and assessed for association with AI efficiency. Methods: A total of 527 cows were enrolled in the study, from two counties in central and southern Kenya. Cattle in the test group (n = 308) were presented when suspected to be in oestrus and tested with the P4 Rapid (low P4 = oestrus, medium P4 = inconclusive, high P4 = not in oestrus/pregnant). Cattle with low P4 were inseminated. Cattle in the control group (n = 219) were inseminated when oestrus behaviour was detected i.e. standard practice. Results: Of the total P4 Rapid tests performed (n = 745), 1.5% were inconclusive, with the true accuracy of the test between 87-97%. Conception rates were not significantly higher in the test group (83.9%) compared to the control group (77.9%). Abortion rates were not significantly different between the control (9.5%) and test groups (8.2%). In the test group, 6.2% (19/308) cows showed a medium or high P4 level on day 0 and 9 of these were subsequently found to have been already pregnant. Conclusions: The data indicated that the P4 Rapid test can be a useful tool to assist farmer decision-making in the confirmation of correct timing for AI, and importantly may avoid unnecessary inseminations in pregnant animals, thus reducing the risk of AI-induced abortion.

Co-creation of a Scalable Climate Service for Kenyan Smallholder Farmers

Climate change is already impacting the horticulture sector in Kenya. Even though the effects of climate change will be severe, adaptation to climate change still has little priority at the local and county level. This paper discusses the development of the agricultural climate atlas for Kajiado and Kiambu counties in Kenya as a climate information service to support the horticulture sector. This climate service for smallholder farmers aims to bridge the gap between climate research and data provision and the uptake by farmers and farmer organizations on the ground. Rather than developing a generic service for the whole of the country, we followed a local, bottom-up approach. Working at the county level, we tried to capture local needs. The result is a co-created atlas for two counties, for specific crops. The approach can be scaled up to other counties and other crops. We elaborate on our approach, and discuss lessons learned, challenges, and future work opportunities. The development of the climate atlas shows the importance of co-creation and user engagement. In addition, flexibility in the output and process was crucial. The main challenge remains to keep engagement high after completion of the project.

Use of a cow-side oestrus detection test for fertility management in Kenyan smallholder dairy herds.

Background: The use of artificial insemination (AI) has great potential to improve smallholder dairy herds in Africa, however high costs and often poor success rates have been discouraging. Effective AI requires accurate oestrus detection and the measurement of progesterone (P4) can be used to indicate oestrus as well as non-pregnancy. A cow-side progesterone lateral flow test, P4 Rapid, was evaluated as an aid to detect oestrus and non-pregnancy in Kenyan dairy cows, and assessed for association with AI efficiency. Methods: A total of 527 cows were enrolled in the study, from two counties in central and southern Kenya. Cattle in the test group (n = 308) were presented when suspected to be in oestrus and tested with the P4 Rapid (low P4 = oestrus, medium P4 = inconclusive, high P4 = not in oestrus/pregnant). Cattle with low P4 were inseminated. Cattle in the control group (n = 219) were inseminated when oestrus behaviour was detected i.e. standard practice. Results: Of the total P4 Rapid tests performed (n = 745), 1.5% were inconclusive, with the true accuracy of the test between 87-97%. Conception rates were not significantly higher in the test group (83.9%) compared to the control group (77.9%). Abortion rates were not significantly different between the control (9.5%) and test groups (8.2%). In the test group, 6.2% (19/308) cows showed a medium or high P4 level on day 0 and 9 of these were subsequently found to have been already pregnant. Conclusions: The data indicated that the P4 Rapid test can be a useful tool to assist farmer decision-making in the confirmation of correct timing for AI, and importantly may avoid unnecessary inseminations in pregnant animals, thus reducing the risk of AI-induced abortion.

Effects of Biofumigation of Spider Plant (Cleome gynandra L.) Against Root-Knot Nematodes (Meloidogyne Spp.) on Quality of Tuberose (Polianthes tuberosa L.)

Tuberose (Polianthes tuberosa L.) is a perennial summer flower grown by smallholders in Kenya for export as it requires low technical and financial input. However, its production and export volumes in Kenya - have been declining drastically. This declining trend has been attributed to root-knot nematodes (Meloidogyne spp) infestation, leading to rejection of cut flowers. This study evaluated the effect of biofumigation of Cleome gynandra against root-knot nematodes. Two experiments were conducted at Egerton University, Njoro, Kenya, using a randomized complete block design with four replications. The treatments were: accessions of C. gynandra; ‘Egerton’ volunteer; ‘Taastrup’; ‘PS’ and ‘IP8’applied at 6 kg/m-2 compared with fumigant (97% dazomet), Brassica napus, solarization and untreated control. Data was collected on nematode infestation and quality of tuberose in terms of stem length, number of leaves and stem diameter. Biofumigation with different C. gynandra accessions was as effective as the fumigant and Brassica napus in reducing nematode population by 34%, gall numbers by 83% and galling index by 96% when compared with the control. Biofumigation with different C. gynandra accessions enhanced the spike length by 32%, marketable spikes by 80%, and reduced non-marketable spikes by 95% when compared with the control. C. gynandra can be used as a biofumigant for management of root knot nematodes and improvement of yield and quality of tuberose. Keywords: Tuberose; Nematode management; Biofumigantion; Flower Quality

Limitations of using simple indicators for evaluating agricultural emission reductions at farm level — evidence from Kenyan smallholder dairy production

National-scale carbon footprints of livestock production are commonly computed from a set of production system characteristics that serve as inputs for greenhouse gas (GHG) emission models. We evaluated the feasibility of using such equations at a finer scale to derive a simple farm-scale indicator of emission intensity (milk yield per head). Using probabilistic simulations, we quantified the impact of input variable uncertainty on emission estimates for smallholder dairy farms in Kenya. We simulated emissions for farm-scale scenarios generated from a survey of 414 households and published or expert-estimated uncertainty bounds. We simulated the impacts of five interventions: changing breeds, retiring unproductive males, keeping fewer replacement males, feeding forage supplements, and balancing animal diets. Impacts were assessed against a true counterfactual and against a more realistic scenario affected by random effects. We estimated errors incurred in classifying farms into adopters and non-adopters of the innovations based on changes in milk yield per animal. Given the current uncertainty, such classification would either miss a large percentage of adopters or misclassify many non-adopters as adopters. As a critical uncertainty, we identified the milk yield of dairy cows. Added precision on this metric reduced but did not eliminate classification errors. We remain cautiously optimistic about using milk yield per head to proxy emission intensity, but its effective use will require further reduction of critical uncertainties. Replacing generic recommendations of parameter uncertainties with context-specific error estimates might lead to a more efficient quantification of the carbon footprint of milk production on smallholder farms.

Do changes in maize prices and input prices affect smallholder farmers’ soil fertility management decisions? panel survey evidence from Kenya

ABSTRACT Soil fertility management (SFM) practices such as maize-legume intercropping and organic fertiliser, particularly when used jointly with inorganic fertiliser, have the potential to increase yields and yield response to inorganic fertiliser, improve soil health, and contribute to sustainable intensification (SI). However, relatively little is known about the drivers of adoption of these practices, especially for joint use. Moreover, it has been suggested that African farmers will respond to an increase in the maize price they expect to receive at the next harvest by increasing investment in their soils or altering use of SFM practices in response to input price changes. Yet previous studies largely ignore the role of prices. Using nationwide household panel survey data from Kenya, we estimate the effects of changes in crop and input prices on household use of individual SFM practices and combinations thereof. We find that Kenyan smallholders’ SFM adoption decisions are largely insensitive to changes in expected maize prices. However, when inorganic fertiliser prices rise, farmers are more likely to use organic fertiliser and use less inorganic fertiliser per acre. These results suggest that price policies alone are unlikely to be effective ways to promote SI of maize production in Kenya.

Climate change stressors affecting household food security among Kimandi-Wanyaga smallholder farmers in Murang’a County, Kenya

Abstract Climate change hazards including droughts and floods are adversely affecting crop productivity and food security among Kenyan smallholder farmers. This article analyzes rainfall and temperature change effects on household food security in Kimandi-Wanyaga, in Murang’a County, Kenya. Both the meteorological and the community perceptions were analyzed. Monthly rainfall and temperature data for Thika Meteorological Station were analyzed for trends using MAKESENS procedure. The community perceptions data obtained through household survey, key informant interviews, and focus group discussions were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and content analysis. The study hypotheses were tested using chi-square tests. The community perceived inadequate rainfall during crop growth (79%), reduced rainfall intensity (77%) and erratic onset and cessation of seasonal rainfall (73%) had interrupted their crop productivity. These disagreed with MAKESENS rainfall trends that showed statistically insignificant rainfall variability (α &gt; 0.1). The community’s warmer temperature perceptions agreed with observed rising maximum temperature trend at 0.001 significance level. This study observed a significant relationship between the community’s perceived local rainfall and temperature changes, and household food security. For robust and strategically designed climate policies and programs for food security, governments need to communicate to policy makers the perceptions of smallholder farmers involved in autonomous climate adaptation.

Randomised controlled trial on estrus and conception impacts of reproductive and nutrition interventions on Kenyan smallholder dairy farms.

This field trial tested the hypothesis that providing Kenyan smallholder dairy farmers with training and resources can enhance cows’ cyclicity and conception using conventional or sexed semen. One hundred farmers were randomly selected and randomly allocated to five equal-sized intervention groups: 1) reproduction only; 2) nutrition only; 3) reproduction and nutrition; 4) education only (quasi-control); or 5) nothing (control). Reproductive interventions included provision of prostaglandin F2? (PG) and/or gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) to induce estrus, and reproduction education. Nutrition interventions included provision of leguminous shrubs and nutrition education. At monthly visits over 17 months, farm and cattle data were collected, and open cattle underwent physical and reproductive exams to determine readiness for farmer decisions on sexed semen utilization. Cox proportional hazards modeling (CoxPH) was used to determine if intervention group was significantly associated with risk of conception. The final dataset included 191 cows and 26 heifers. Lowest and highest heat submission percentages were 8.5% and 35.5% in the control and reproduction groups, respectively. Conception percentages in cows and heifers were 44.0% and 54.5% for sexed semen and 72% and 79% for conventional semen, respectively. In the final multivariable CoxPH model, each unit increase in average body condition score was associated with 3.5 times higher risk of conception. Cattle that were inseminated following spontaneous heat had 1.8 times higher risk of conception over cows that were inseminated following a hormone-induced heat. In a significant interaction variable, when cows were supplemented with dairy meal in the last month of gestation, a higher risk of conception was achieved in cows on groups where leguminous shrubs were fed compared to groups where no leguminous shrubs were fed. This study concludes that focused effort on improving reproduction through education, hormone use and improved nutrition can improve heat submission and conception percentages on Kenyan smallholder dairy farms.

Food Loss-Reducing Intervention Strategies for Potato Smallholders in Kenya—A Positive Business Case with Reduced Greenhouse Gas Emissions

This paper is focused on intervention scenarios for smallholder potato value chains in Kenya that improve yields, reduce losses, minimize greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and increase economic performance and food security. For that, business models and GHG emission estimates are developed, based on the existing data, combined with relevancy and time-to-impact analysis using practical real-life information from stakeholders in the potato sector, which is the second largest agricultural crop in Kenya after maize. The results show that profitability, environmental improvement and food security can go hand in hand with realistic short-term interventions for potato production at smallholder farms.

The effect of membership in producer organizations on women's empowerment: Evidence from Kenya

In developing countries, producer organizations (POs) are important for achieving women empowerment mainly through promoting women's access to the organization's resources and services. However, by improving access to markets and technologies, household membership in POs often results in commercialization of smallholder farming, leading to women disempowerment as men take over control of the farm. We use data from dairy smallholders in Kenya to explore the impact of membership in bargaining and processing POs on women empowerment. Applying the Women Empowerment Livestock Index, we capture six domains of empowerment: production; nutrition; resources; income; opportunities; and workload. We find that when a household joins any PO, regardless of whether the man or the woman in the household is the registered member, women achieve a higher control over production decisions, buying and selling of land and cows, use of loans and receiving dairy income. Distinguishing by gender of membership, there is stronger women empowerment when the woman in the household is a member. We also find that woman membership in bargaining POs results in greater empowerment, in terms of ownership of cows, than woman membership in processing POs. The paper suggests that women empowerment is affected by the functional characteristics of POs.

English

This study estimated the changes in economics and farmer perceptions towards calf welfare as a result of implementing low-cost calf housing enhancements and changes in calf management on Kenyan smallholder dairy farms. The trial involved 187 heifer calves from 150 farms allocated to either an intervention or control group. The interventions were improvements on the floor and roof of the calf housing, and training for the farmers on calf care. Animal- and farm-level characteristics were collected every two months over a 16-month period. Data gathered from questionnaires on the first and sixth visits were used to determine changes in calf management and farmer perceptions on calf welfare pre- and post-intervention. Partial budgeting was used to assess the additional costs and benefits associated with the intervention for heifer calves from birth to 15 months old. The net financial return of undertaking the housing and management improvements was positive at Ksh 6,594 (USD 65.94) per heifer, based on having a larger heifer at 15 months, reduced bedding and medical care costs, and lower risk of death. It is thus concluded that calf housing improvements and on-farm training on calf care are cost-effective and improve management and calf welfare perceptions of farmers. Key words: Heifer, partial budget analysis, zero-grazing.