Feeding dairy cattle: a manual for smallholder dairy farmers and extension workers in East Africa

This booklet is designed to guide extension workers and possibly smallholder dairy farmers through the basics of feeding dairy animals. It includes essential background information as well as practical advice and suggestions. By better understanding how a cow digests its food, the importance of providing a balanced diet, how nutritional needs vary at different stages of the animal's life and how different types of feed can meet these needs, dairy farmers will be able to get the most benefit from their investment and keep their valuable animals healthy and productive

Fodder legumes technology and farmer to farmer extension: a case of Desmodium and Calliandra in central Kenya

Adoption studies on fodders legume technologies have shown that spread of the technology is significantly enhanced by informal methods of dissemination especially farmer-to-farmer extension. It is not known which type of farmers are involved in this dissemination. The objective of this study was to identify farm and farmer characteristics that influence farmer-to farmer extension hence identify the type of farmers that can disseminate fodder legume technologies. A random sample of 130 farmers who had been given calliandra in central Kenya responded to a structured questionnaire. Information collected included farm and farmer characteristics and the number of farmers the original farmer had given Calliandra outside the original group. A tobit model was used to analyze the data to get the magnitude of the effects of factors affecting the probability and the intensity of giving out the fodder. Results showed that farmers with positions in farmer groups** , community responsibility**, larger amounts of desmodium on the their farms** , more years of the fodder on their farms***; low access to markets* and off farm income* , were positively involved in spread of the fodder legume. It was recommended that this type of farmers be targeted with support to increase spread of the technology

Factors influencing farmer-to-farmer extension of forage legume technology

Forage legumes have been introduced to farmers in Central Kenya between 1980 and 2002 through various Institutional and Projects’ efforts. The adoption rate of these forages among farmers has been found to be rather low, with the NDDP reporting only 1.9 % of farms surveyed and an ICRAF report indicating that the technology was only reaching 1 % of smallholder farms. An evaluation of adoption of Calliandra and Desmodium was conducted to identify farm characteristics affecting the likelihood of sharing of Desmodium and Calliandra technologies as well as to characterise the spread or diffusion of the technology from the original contact groups and the effect of distance from those groups. Three groups of farmers were approached. A first generation who received planting material from the distributors, a second generation who received planting materials from the former, and a randomly selected group of farmers at various distances from the first contacts. Informal discussions were held with the farmers and formal questionnaires filled. Out of the 133 first generation farmers contacted 64.7% still had Desmodium and 89.5% still had Calliandra. More farms in the contact sub-locations had the plants than the sub-locations further away. The small sample size of those with the forages could not allow effect of distance to be worked out. Tobit estimates of effects of farmer attributes influencing sharing of planting materials shows that the status of the household head in the community positively affected the likelihood of giving out planting material. The technology has a rather slow spread as indicated by percentages of farms with the forages. For better adoption and spread proponents of the technology should have the technology introduced to farmers who have substantial positions in farmer groups or have been bestowed community responsibility

Targeting dairy interventions in Kenya: a guide for development planners, researchers and extension workers

This easy-to-use guide to effective targeting of selected dairy interventions in Kenya is intended for use by anyone involved in dairy farming in the country, such as development planners, researchers, service providers, suppliers of dairy inputs and extension workers. The guide answers the question often faced by these workers: where is their proposed intervention most likely to be adopted? Using a combination of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) mapping methods and economic regression techniques, this guide shows where and under what circumstances dairy technologies are most likely to succeed. The guide is divided into three sections. The first section deals with concepts, rationale and methodologies for targeting dairy interventions. It also explains, with examples, how to use the guide. The second section presents the targeting maps for various dairy interventions. A total of eleven dairy interventions are considered in this guide. For each, a map shows relative probability of adoption together with a description of the innovation and background information. Also presented are the socio-economic, biophysical and agro-climatic characteristics that predispose uptake of each intervention. The third section presents some policy-relevant research results in three topical areas: Cost of milk production; Evaluation and assessment of alternative milk preservation techniques; and Employment generation in the dairy marketing chain

Fodder research embedded in a system of innovation

A 3-year project implemented in India and Nigeria addressed the issue of improving livelihoods of poor livestock keepers by improving availability of fodder. The original approach focused on testing of new crop varieties to be scaled up through partners using mechanisms such as farmer-to-farmer exchange and field days. As the project evolved, it became clearer that the systems were much more complex than originally thought with a wide range of actors involved. Although fodder technology is obviously a requirement to reduce fodder shortages, many of the problems are embedded in the institutions and policies that determine how technology is developed and delivered. To help address these issues, an innovation systems approach is proposed with a focus on building capacity within the system