Livestock management and environmental security in eastern Africa: a case study of Kenya.

Abstract

It is generally accepted that the general production and consumption gap for the major food commodities has widened across many continent in the world. It is worth noting that the livestock as a sector is responsible for the fight against hunger, especially at the household level, animal products are considered critical for nutritional support, food security, livelihoods and general resilience of hundreds of millions of persons in the world today. Thus this research aims to establish the livestock management and environmental security in Eastern Africa using a case study of Kenya. It is worth appreciating that livestock outputs indirectly contribute to food production (mainly crops but also recycled inputs to livestock, for example, cultivated animal feed, bone meal, poultry litter) contribute the remaining onethird. This research utilized Maslow‟s theory which was developed in 1943 about the hierarchy of human needs. This study employed case study as a research design, and in addition the research utilized both primary and secondary data. The primary data was harvested through the use of a key informant interview guide of the key stakeholders in livestock and national security matters. In addition secondary data was gathered from books, journals, articles and periodicals, then analyzed using document and thematic analysis with full relevance to the objectives of the study. It is worth mention that this research adhered to all the ethical considerations and also research permission and permit was sought where necessary during the study. This research found that climate change will have a direct effect on the livestock by affecting development and fertility and also an indirect effect by affecting the environment around the animals. This study concludes that the effects of environmental change and associated extreme weather events threaten sustainable development and impacts negatively on the livestock sector. This research finally recommends that both state and nonsate actors in the agricultural sector to practice and encourage climate-smart forms of agriculture. This research finally acknowledged that there was no simple solution to effectively mitigation of livestock greenhouse emission, and therefore recommended further and deep research in this area to address emerging issues.