Artificial or natural insemination: the demand for breeding services by smallholders.
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Date
2004Author
Baltenweck, I
Ouma, R
Anunda, F
Mwai, A. Okeyo
Romney, D
Type
PresentationLanguage
enMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Different types of breeding services are available to the Kenyan smallholder farmers.
An important question is whether farmers choose the service, or they are constrained
in their choice. Assessing the demand for breeding services is crucial for planning
purposes since it will help in identifying the constraints faced by smallholders in the
aftermath of agricultural liberalisation policies of the 1990’s. Household and
community surveys were conducted in March and April 2004 in three different
farming systems of the Kenyan Highlands. The study of 300 smallholder cattlekeepers
found that while 54% prefer artificial insemination (AI) to natural (bull)
service, 81% actually use natural service, suggesting a sharp contrast between actual
use and expressed preferences. Even in intensive dairy systems (represented by Ndia
division in Kirinyaga district), the majority of smallholders use natural service.
Farmers prefer AI service in view of its ability to maintain and/or upgrade their dairy
herd but main constraints to use of AI services are low availability and perceived high
costs. This study shows that the observed high use of natural service over AI recorded
in previous studies may not reflect farmers’ choice but the unavailability of the
Demand for breeding services by smallholders
alternative service types, cost considerations, information gaps and misinformation
amongst farmers, historical reasons among other constraining factors. Some
recommendations for breeding policy reform are made.
URI
http://cgspace.cgiar.org/bitstream/handle/10568/1078/Baltenweck%20et%20al-2004-breeding%20services-KARI.pdf?sequence=1http://hdl.handle.net/11295/44611
Citation
Baltenweck, I., Ouma, R., Anunda, F., Mwai, O., & Romney, D. (2004). Artificial or natural insemination: the demand for breeding services by smallholders.Publisher
University of Nairobi. Department of Animal Production