Plenary and Invited Papers Section 3: Delivering the Benefits from Grassland
Description
In Kenya, smallholder farmers produce about 80% of the marketed milk. The farming systems vary from mixed farms with up to 10 ha of land and < 10 dairy cows (Gitau et al., 1994; Anon., 1985), to intensive smallholder dairy producers in the high human population central Kenya region with 0.9 to 2 ha of land and 3-4 dairy cows (Staal et al., 2001a). Milk production depends heavily on the cultivation of forages, with Pennisetum purpureum (Napier grass) by far the most important. An estimated 350,000 of the 600,000 smallholder farms in Kenya grow and utilize P. purpureum on their farms.
There are various published data indicating the level of dependence on sown forages. In a survey of 21 smallholder dairy farmers in the highlands of Kenya, Romney et al. (2004) found that P. purpureum supplied approximately 40 and 60% of the feed offered to dairy cows in the dry and wet months respectively, with the remaining feed provided by concentrates, crop residues (mainly Zea mays (maize) stover) and other cut and carry fodder such as roadside grass. In the more intensive cut and carry systems of production practiced in central Kenya, McLeod et al. (2003) found that P. purpureum was grown by over 70% of the smallholder farmers in their study area. In farm level characterisation surveys of over 3300 households conducted between 1996 and 2000 in central Kenya, 62% kept livestock and more than 50% were growing P. purpureum. Farmers were also growing fodder legumes such as Sesbania grandiflora (Sesbania), Leucaena leucocephala (Leucaena), Calliandra calothyrsus (Callindra), Desmodium intortum/uncinatum, (Desmodium) and Medicago sativa (Lucerne), but the frequency did not exceed 7.5% (Staal et al., 2001b).
Included in
Improved Livelihoods from Grasslands; the Case of Napier Grass in Smallholder Dairy Farms in Kenya
In Kenya, smallholder farmers produce about 80% of the marketed milk. The farming systems vary from mixed farms with up to 10 ha of land and < 10 dairy cows (Gitau et al., 1994; Anon., 1985), to intensive smallholder dairy producers in the high human population central Kenya region with 0.9 to 2 ha of land and 3-4 dairy cows (Staal et al., 2001a). Milk production depends heavily on the cultivation of forages, with Pennisetum purpureum (Napier grass) by far the most important. An estimated 350,000 of the 600,000 smallholder farms in Kenya grow and utilize P. purpureum on their farms.
There are various published data indicating the level of dependence on sown forages. In a survey of 21 smallholder dairy farmers in the highlands of Kenya, Romney et al. (2004) found that P. purpureum supplied approximately 40 and 60% of the feed offered to dairy cows in the dry and wet months respectively, with the remaining feed provided by concentrates, crop residues (mainly Zea mays (maize) stover) and other cut and carry fodder such as roadside grass. In the more intensive cut and carry systems of production practiced in central Kenya, McLeod et al. (2003) found that P. purpureum was grown by over 70% of the smallholder farmers in their study area. In farm level characterisation surveys of over 3300 households conducted between 1996 and 2000 in central Kenya, 62% kept livestock and more than 50% were growing P. purpureum. Farmers were also growing fodder legumes such as Sesbania grandiflora (Sesbania), Leucaena leucocephala (Leucaena), Calliandra calothyrsus (Callindra), Desmodium intortum/uncinatum, (Desmodium) and Medicago sativa (Lucerne), but the frequency did not exceed 7.5% (Staal et al., 2001b).
