Publication Date
1989
Description
In Kenya, the rangelands comprise about 80% of the country's land surface and contain about 76% of its population of cattle, sheep, goats and camels. Pastoralism is the dominant activity in this zone managed by among others, Maasai, Rendille, Samburu and Turkana tribesmen. The nomads keep animals for their own dietary requirements of milk, blood and meat and for sale to the heavily populated and crop dominated production systems of the high potential areas. The relative merits of meat and milk production and other economic indices of productivity have been analysed and discussed (ILCA, 1984). Despite suggested improvement interventions animal productivity has remained low mainly because of a harsh environment. This paper presents recent data on animal production in the Kenyan rangelands with a view to suggesting likely interventions for improvement.
Citation
Abate, A; Wanyoike, M M.; Badamana, M S.; and Abate, A N., "Towards Improving Animal Production in the Rangelands of Kenya" (2025). IGC Proceedings (1989-2023). 61.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/igc/1989/session13b/61
Included in
Agricultural Science Commons, Agronomy and Crop Sciences Commons, Plant Biology Commons, Plant Pathology Commons, Soil Science Commons, Weed Science Commons
Towards Improving Animal Production in the Rangelands of Kenya
In Kenya, the rangelands comprise about 80% of the country's land surface and contain about 76% of its population of cattle, sheep, goats and camels. Pastoralism is the dominant activity in this zone managed by among others, Maasai, Rendille, Samburu and Turkana tribesmen. The nomads keep animals for their own dietary requirements of milk, blood and meat and for sale to the heavily populated and crop dominated production systems of the high potential areas. The relative merits of meat and milk production and other economic indices of productivity have been analysed and discussed (ILCA, 1984). Despite suggested improvement interventions animal productivity has remained low mainly because of a harsh environment. This paper presents recent data on animal production in the Kenyan rangelands with a view to suggesting likely interventions for improvement.
