| dc.description.abstract | This study was carried out to analyse the mixed crop-dairy farming system in the highlands of
Wundanyi Division, Taita District, Kenya. The aims of the study were to identify the farmers'
objectives; to determine resource availability and allocation; to identify the constraints, coping
strategies and opportunities; and to get the trends of the farming system activities, performance
and interactions. The study was undertaken over an eleven months period to capture the activities
and trends in the two rainy seasons in the area. The initial data was collected using participatory
rural appraisal (PRA) and a structured questionnaire survey in nine villages. This was followed
by a dynamic study involving a sample of thirty farms where data was collected twice per month
using direct measurements and observations. The results pointed at a subsistence livelihood with
a low level of technology adoption and general farm management such as fodder and breeding
management. Farms are small with a mean of 2.3 acres and the farm area devoted to food crops
was 52.7% and that to forage crops 24.1%, but the majority of farmers (69.9%) produce their
own fodder. Animal health technicians, extension officers and inseminators are few and far from
reach and this is a real constraint to technology extension and implementation. The dairy cow is
the most important livestock and cattle formed the bulk of the Total Livestock Units with 89.1%.
Mean milk production per day was 7 litres and the price was KSh 20 (US$ 0.25) per litre. High
cost of cattle artificial insemination (A.I.) services was ranked the most important problem in
livestock production followed by low production, pests and diseases, low milk prices, inadequate
fodder in the dry season and lack of milk cooling facilities. There is room for improvement in
optimization of resources and productivity and the strategy should be to move beyond coping
strategies towards exploitation of the identified opportunities namely training, credit, increased
fodder production and preservation, improved breeding and value addition of milk, among
others. | en |
