In Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, a large portion of total household income comes from dairy. However, many dairy producers lack business skills, knowledge of proper production technologies, and access to inputs and services.
Dairy cows are one of the most valuable and profitable assets for African farming families. They provide a dependable source of income, producing milk for substantial periods that farmers can sell and rely on short-turnaround for payment.
Smallholder dairy husbandry provides a secure livelihood for families while respecting cultural values and promoting women’s social and economic status. Given the right tools and opportunities, East African dairy farmers can increase their incomes and contribute to the growth of the dairy market across the region.
At the same time we commend the efforts being undertaken by the management of the East Africa Dairy Development (EADD) programme which is designed to boost the milk yields and incomes of small-scale farmers so they can lift their families and communities out of poverty.
Funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and implemented in partnership with Heifer International, the second phase of EADD aims to help 136,000 smallholder farming families in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania sustainably improve their livelihoods by 2018, while stimulating income growth for an additional 400,000 secondary beneficiaries.
In the same vein, struggling East African dairy farmers are set to benefit from new varieties of high-quality, drought-resistant forage grass known as Brachiaria that boosts milk production by 40 per cent.
The forage grass could enable farmers to increase their incomes, according to experts at the Colombia-headquartered International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) – a CGIAR Research Centre. The study demonstrates the high potential for improved forages in East Africa and high payoff for investment in improved forages.
The objective of the study was to understand the potential payoff for investment in action to improve dissemination and use of improved forages.
Co-authors of the report and forage agronomists says the Brachiaria grass is climate-friendly and has high crude protein and less fiber, which leads to better use and digestion by cattle, in turn leading to less methane gas produced for each unit of livestock product such as milk or meat. Methane is one of the gases associated with global warming.
According to them the grass is relatively drought-tolerant compared to the napier or elephant grass commonly used in East Africa. In addition, the grass can easily be conserved as hay for utilisation during forages scarcity or for sale.
Smallholder dairy farming is important in East Africa for household nutrition and income.
The grass is native to Africa, according to report. It can grow in areas with up to 3,000 millimetres of rainfall and also withstand dry seasons of three to six months during which the leaf may remain green while other tropical species die.
These conditions exist in other regions outside eastern Africa such as in Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe. It further says 40 per cent increase in milk production is achievable in East Africa after feeding livestock with Brachiaria.
Forage has been always a major challenge in livestock production in East Africa. It is mainly because of declining pastureland, frequent and prolonged drought and not many farmers conserve forage for dry season.
The major challenges for adoption of Brachiaria technology in East Africa are limited availability of seeds or vegetative materials, lack of standardised agronomic practices for different production environments and lack of varieties that are well adapted to East African environment, the report explains, citing other challenges such as pest and diseases, and low funding forage research and development.
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