372 research outputs found
Tools to profile pig and pork aggregators, veterinary drug retailers, veterinarians and feed processors in Uganda smallholder pig value chains
Determinants and impact of adopting climate-smart brachiaria grass among dairy farmers in Kenya
Evolving changes such as population growth, urbanisation and a growing middle-income class in Africa are redefining the agro-food systems. Population growth is expected to double the demand for milk and meat products in Africa by 2050. This raises concerns on the capability of African countries to meet the projected demand. It is imperative that farmers seize the opportunities for earning higher and stable income by responding to the new trends and overcoming the constraints tightened by climate change. Access to quality fodder has continued to be the single most important challenge in livestock production systems. The objective of this article is to evaluate the impact of climate-smart Brachiaria on feed sufficiency and milk productivity in dairy production in Kenya. A random sample of 237 farmers, 111 adopters and 126 non-adopters of Brachiaria was selected in Makueni
and Siaya using multi-stage sampling. Data was collected through face to face interviews and Propensity score-matching approach was then employed to evaluate the impact of Brachiaria grass on feed sufficiency and milk productivity. In this study, non-adopters of Brachiaria were farmers who were using Napier grass as their source of fodder. The findings reveal that adoption of Brachiaria increases milk production by about 27.6%. This translates to an average increase of about 3 litres daily per animal. Adoption of Brachiaria consequently increases feed sufficiency measured by time spent in feed related activities by the primary woman in a household by 31.6%. Adopters of Brachiaria spend 2 hours less in sourcing and preparing feed in dry seasons. The surplus milk implies more income for the household, improved nutrition from milk consumption and improved wealth status of household. Results on feed sufficiency imply that Brachiaria offers an alternative sustainable source of fodder in fodder scarce periods and releases the burden on women in feed related activities. There is also an improvement in the welfare of families. The study concludes that policies and efforts aimed at increasing widespread adoption should address factors that influence adoption. We recommend increasing extension and training on climate-smart fodder and strengthening collective institutions such as farmer groups for sustainable livestock production
Strengthening fodder markets and testing forages under different irrigation technologies in Tanzania
Hybrid Power System Options for Off-Grid Rural Electrification in Northern Kenya
For domestic consumers in the rural areas of northern Kenya, as in other developing countries, the typical source of electrical supply is diesel generators. However, diesel generators are associated with both CO2 emissions, which adversely affect the environment and increase diesel fuel prices, which inflate the prices of consumer goods. The Kenya government has taken steps towards addressing this issue by proposing The Hybrid Mini-Grid Project, which involves the installation of 3 MW of wind and solar energy systems in facilities with existing diesel generators. However, this project has not yet been implemented. As a contribution to this effort, this study proposes, simulates and analyzes five different configurations of hybrid energy systems incorporating wind energy, solar energy and battery storage to replace the stand-alone diesel power systems servicing six remote villages in northern Kenya. If implemented, the systems proposed here would reduce Kenya’s dependency on diesel fuel, leading to reductions in its carbon footprint. This analysis confirms the feasibility of these hybrid systems with many configurations being profitable. A Multi-Attribute Trade-Off Analysis is employed to determine the best hybrid system configuration option that would reduce diesel fuel consumption and jointly minimize CO2 emissions and net present cost. This analysis determined that a wind-diesel-battery configuration consisting of two 500 kW turbines, 1200 kW diesel capacity and 95,040 Ah battery capacity is the best option to replace a 3200 kW stand-alone diesel system providing electricity to a village with a peak demand of 839 kW. It has the potential to reduce diesel fuel consumption and CO2 emissions by up to 98.8%
Characterization and quantification of different indigenous chicken production, feeding and management systems in Babati district, Tanzania
The role of fodder markets in meeting the year‐round forage requirements of smallholder dairy farmers in Tanzania
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbei
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