Socio-economic determinants and impact of adopting climate-smart Brachiaria grass among dairy farmers in Eastern and Western regions of Kenya

Abstract

The sustainability of the livestock sector in sub-Saharan Africa is negatively affected by limited access to highquality fodder in adequate quantities. The effects of climate change further exacerbate feed availability. Therefore, there is a need to develop feasible cost-effective strategies for improving the year-round feed supply. Improved planted forages such as Brachiaria grass have been recommended as one of the strategies of alleviating feed scarcity, especially in drier agro-ecological zones. This study analyses the socio-economic determinants of adoption and the impact of adopting Brachiaria grass for feed sufficiency and increased milk production. Propensity Score Matching (PSM) method was used to assess the determinants and impact of the adoption of Brachiaria grass. Empirical results indicate that the adoption of Brachiaria grass led to a significant increase in milk production by 27.6% and feed sufficiency by 31.6%. The positive impact of Brachiaria grass is consistent with the role of agricultural technologies in improving the productivity, income, and welfare of smallholder farmers. The adoption of Brachiaria grass is influenced by age of farmer, tropical livestock unit (TLU), type of animal breed, perceived benefits of the technology, access to extension, and farmer group membership. The study recommends holistic policy approaches that promote the widespread adoption of Brachiaria grass. There is also a need for an effective information dissemination pathway for Brachiaria grass.

Cooperative Partnership with Milk Companies Based on Codex Alimentarius in Realizing Food Sovereignty in Indonesia

“…Dalam hal ini ada wacana bekerjasama dengan BUMN Perhutani. Dalam praktek di negara lain sudah dilakukan upaya memberi pakan sapi perah dengan rumput brachiaria seperti di Kenya, yang mana terbukti bisa menaikkan produksi susu sapi sebanyak 27.6% dan ketercukupan pakan sebanyak 31% (Maina et al 2020). Jenis rumput ini bisa tumbuh di sebagian besar wilayah tropis Indonesia sesuai dengan berbagai jenis tanah, termasuk di tanah yang asam (Umami et al 2018).…”

Potential of Urochloa grass hybrids as fodder in the Ethiopian highlands

“…Urochloa grasses are among the potential forages that can be cultivated commercially or under smallholder conditions (Jank et al 2014;Midega et al 2015;Maina et al 2020). The genus Urochloa is the source of many tropical grass species that have originated in the African continent and are natural constituents of grasslands (Cheruiyot et al 2020).…”

“…On the other hand, species such as U. decumbens, and U. brizantha, have been widely grown as improved pastures over large areas in Latin America and South America and are credited with the transformation of the cattle production sector in that continent (Peters et al 2003;Jank et al 2014;Muniandy et al 2019). In recent years, improved Urochloa grasses have been introduced and cultivated by thousands of farmers in eastern Africa, providing alternative good quality feed resources for dairy and beef producers (Cheruiyot et al 2020;Maina et al 2020).…”

“…Hybrid Urochloa cultivars (Urochloa ruziziensis x U. decumbens x U. brizantha cv. Mulato) have shown promising results in improving livestock productivity as they have been bred for quality and biomass production (Brandan et al 2017;Maina et al 2020).…”

A systems approach toward climate resilient livelihoods: A case study in Thai Nguyen province, Vietnam

“…Especially, smallholder farmers and poor communities in developing countries are more vulnerable to the impact of climate change ( Ancog et al., 2019 ; Frimpong et al., 2020 ; Kurukulasuriya and Rosenthal, 2013 ; Marie et al., 2020 ; Sarker and Rashid, 2012 ). As such, there is a high need for adaptation strategies ( Adzawla et al., 2019 ; Aniah et al., 2019 ; Idrissou et al., 2020 ; Muema et al., 2018 ), particularly ecosystem-based adaptation ( Maina et al., 2020 ) and/or area-specific adaptation measures ( Marie et al., 2020 ).…”