Factors influencing beef cattle marketing behavior in pastoral areas of Kenya: the role of livestock market information

Marketing transactions take place in an environment where information is shared and exchanged among and between sellers, buyers and middlemen. It is argued that traders and middlemen have a competitive advantage over producers in negotiating for prices, because the former have access to prices in both primary and terminal markets, while the latter only have limited access to prices in the primary markets. This Research Brief highlights the situation regarding access to livestock marketing information by producers in pastoral markets of Kenya. Results show that livestock marketing information was not accessible to producers from September 2004 to September 2005, and hence did not play a significant role in influencing market prices. Subsequent analyses also show that producers consider a number of attributes when pegging prices to their animals, and that these tally with the categorization system developed by the Livestock Information Network and Knowledge System (LINKS) project. Further findings suggest that past efforts to develop livestock marketing information systems have been dogged by limited capacity to provide information that is accurate, timely, reliable, and spatially coherent. This has been exacerbated by failure to effectively use existing media and complement these with emerging information communication technologies to disseminate the information. LINKS has since responded to these factors through improvements in geographical coverage, accuracy, reliability and timeliness in the overall livestock market information system, as well as through improved information dissemination systems; improvements that have strengthened LINKS, allowing it to function as the foundation for the National Livestock Marketing Information System in Kenya

Effects of levels of concentrate supplementation on milk production and body weights of lactating dairy cows

Nineteen dairy cows were used over a 7-month period to evaluate the effect of allocating different levels of concentrate during early lactation. The animals were fed on grass hay basal diet and supplemented with either 2 Kg (LLC), 4 Kg (MLC) or 8 Kg (HLC) per day. Milk yields were measured daily, body weight and body condition scores were monitored weekly. Milk yields during the first 12 weeks of lactation were 11.6, 12.6 and 16.9 Kg/day for LLC, MLC and HLC respectively. The HLC had significantly higher (P<0.001) milk yield than both MLC and LLC. The body weights and condition scores of animals in different treatment groups remained relatively constant during the study period. The HLC were significantly heavier than the other two groups

Effects of water sources and watering frequency for dairy cattle on water offered and milk production in Kiambu District

Data on water sources, mode of offer, watering frequency, amount of water offered, body weights and milk yield were collected from 21 randomly selected smallholder farms in Kiambu by means of farm visits and questionnaires fortnightly. Most farms (67%) had water on-farm but 76% of them needed labour to deliver the water to the animals. Fifty two percent of the farms practised continuous watering. Water troughs (67%) were mostly used to water dairy cattle. Farms with on-farm water offered dairy cows more (134 ml/kg live wt) water compared to those collecting (76ml/kg live wt) or purchasing (81ml/kg live wt) water. Preliminary results on milk yield using descriptive statistics show that dairy cows with on-farm water produce less milk (6.4 l/day) compared with 8.0 l/day and 9.0 l/day for those collecting or purchasing water respectively. Dairy cows using water troughs produced less milk (6.34 l/day) than those using bowls or buckets (8.44 l/day)

Evaluation of the use of milk urea nitrogen (MUN) as an indicator of nutritional status of dairy cattle in smallholder farms in Kiambu district

A survey was conducted to evaluate the use of Milk Urea Nitrogen as an indicator of nutrition status of lactating animals. Twenty-seven animals in a randomly selected sample of 21 farms in Kiambu District were monitored for nutritional status for 12 weeks. Fortnightly records were taken on feed offered, body condition, body weight and milk yield. Milk samples were collected weekly and analysed for MUN. Preliminary results indicated that there was a significant (P<0.05) negative correlation between MUN and milk yield, and a marginal correlation between MUN and body weight. There was no significant relationship between MUN and Body condition score. The data so far collected, which excludes the feed data indicate that MUN, may to an extent be a reliable indicator, of nutritional status of dairy cattle under smallholder farm conditions

Delivery of technical information to smallholder dairy farmers in Kiambu District

A survey was conducted to determine the sources and delivery of technical information to smallholder dairy farmers in Kiambu District. Sixty-three farmers in three wealth groups (rich, medium, poor) of 21 farmers each from three different locations, were selected at random from maps drawn by communities. A structured questionnaire was administered to collect information on farmers’ level of exposure to different dairy information sources and their involvement in extension activities during 1997. Preliminary results indicate that most poor farmers (66%) relied on neighbors as their primary information source. Field days run by dairy cooperative societies were the most important organized information delivery channel for poor (28%) and medium (38%) farmers. Private and co-operative veterinary services concentrated on rich farms with 33% of these households having contact compared with only 14% of poor households. The government veterinary or livestock services contacted less than 20% of households either in farm visits or field days. Besides visits by private veterinary officers to wealthy farmers the frequency of contact with livestock professionals was therefore limited for all communities. Preliminary conclusions are that for Kiambu, which has a well established smallholder dairy industry, group meetings organized by cooperatives are more likely to reach the poorer sectors of the community. This coupled with frequent neighbour-to-neighbour discussions may currently be the most effective dairy information delivery channel

Technology development and field testing: access to credit to allow smallholder dairy farmers in central Kenya to reallocate concentrates during lactation

A field trial with smallholder dairy farmers in central Kenya was carried out to study the feasibility of reallocating concentrates as a means of increasing the profitability of milk production. Researchers designed the trial with extension officers, dairy co-operative and feed company staff to ensure that all stakeholders and key players were involved. Central to the design was the provision of feed on credit from the dairy co-operative to its members, the volunteer farmers involved in the study. The role of the research team was to present the technology to the farmers and monitor the implementation and impact. Farmers were not constrained in the way they chose to implement the recommendations, but the research team monitored any modifications as well as recording production parameters and characteristics of the farm and feed management systems likely to explain underlying variation. The recommendation was to feed 8 kg/day in early lactation, withdrawing concentrates completely after twelve weeks so that during the course of lactation the amount fed would be equivalent to the most frequent farmer practice, a flat rate of 2 kg/day. Actual quantities offered by most farmers were reported to be higher than in previous lactations, but varied from 2-10 kg/day. Although some decreased the amount offered between 8-12 weeks post lactation most continued with the higher levels until a drop in milk yield was observed. Milk production increased as a result of the intervention with a large part of the variation in milk yield (r2 = 0.55) reflecting the amount of concentrate offered. Month of calving and sampling also influenced the production response For many smallholder dairy farmers one of the key constraints to making technological changes expected to improve production is the lack of credit to allow them to make investments. The results so far available from our study showed that farmers were able to increase their milk yield as a result of the intervention, and that, as expected, the response depended on the level of concentrate offered