| dc.description.abstract | This study was conducted in three ecologically distint districts in Kenya with contrasting socio-economic conditions namely, Kirinyaga, Nakuru and Rachuonyo. Specific objectives of the study were: first, to identify smallholder dairy cattle farmers' trait preferences under various production systems; second, evaluate smallholder dairy farmers' choice for cattle breeds under different production environments; and three, assess the predisposing factors; incidences and levels of inbreeding on smallholder dairy farms. Data were obtained through survey and Geographic Information System (GIS) layers from a random sample of 301 households.
Data on farmers' trait and breed preferences were collected using scores and the matrix rating technique, respectively. The Friedman non parametric analysis of variance and the. Wilcoxon non parametric matched-pair signed-rank tests were used to determine whether the preferences for the traits differ across the production systems. The ordered logit model was used to examine the effect of the interactions between the breeds and the socio-economic and ecological factors on the 4 dependent measures of breed choice (i.e., the farmers' breed rankings).
Individual animal pedigree observations, that included name of the animal, unique identity, breed, sex, and date of birth, were obtained from cattle owners by adapting the Herder Recall and Progeny History methods, based on farmer knowledge, and were used to assess the incidences and levels of inbreeding. High milk yield, high growth rate, big body size, high fertility and high disease resistance traits were ranked highly across all the production systems. Farmers who practice free-range grazing (mostly producers of grade, zebu and zebu crossbreds) and semi-intensive systems (mostly keepers of the zebus and their crossbreds), ranked high milk yield first and high butterfat percentage second.
The semi-intensive farmers (keepers of the zebu and its crossbreds) and the free-range fanners (mostly zebu cattle owners) ranked big body size and traction ability second to milk yield. Furthermore, high disease resistance was ranked second by semi-intensive farmers (keepers of mostly grade cattle and mostly zebu and crossbreds). Additionally, high growth rate, low feed intake and drought tolerance were highly rated by free-range producers (mostly Friesian and Ayrshire keepers) and the semi-intensive fanners (mostly zebu and crossbred owners). The zero-grazing and the semi-intensive farmers ranked high fertility second to high milk yield.
It was shown from the results that when the socio-economic and ecological factors (i.e., distances to markets-for inputs and products, feeding system, farming experience, education level of the farmer, availability of extension services, and PPE - i.e., Annual Precipitation over Potential Evapo-transpiration) are not considered, the farmers would most probably prefer/choose Friesian for high milk yield, big body size, and high growth rate followed by the crossbreds and then the Ayrshire. However, all the exotic breeds and their crosses were less preferred to the indigenous zebu when it comes to disease resistance, drought tolerance, and percent butterfat content attributes.
Nonetheless, it was shown from the results of the interactions between the breeds with the variable 'Distance' that the Jersey was the most preferred breed for high milk yield, body size and high growth rate as distance to markets increased (i.e., poor market access) with the Ayrshire ranking second with respect to body size. The Ayrshire was most preferred for high milk yield and body size under the semi-intensive system whereas the Guernsey was preferred for high butterfat content. More experienced dairy farmers preferred the Guernsey most for high milk yield and high fertility. The Ayrshire and Friesian tied in second position with respect to high milk yield.
However, Friesian was most preferred for high growth rate. Highly educated fanners preferred Friesian most for high milk yield followed by Ayrshire whereas they preferred crossbreds most for their manageable body sizes followed by Friesian for their superior salvage values. Where contact with extension services was high, farmers preferred the Jersey most for low feed intake. Most animals had an average pedigree depth of 3 generations and some pedigrees were incomplete. 37.9% and 45.8%, of the surveyed cattle had information on the identity of one parent and both of the parents missing. Where sufficient pedigree records were available, 34.9% of the animals were inbred. In one of the sub-locations in Nakuru district, 14.0% of inbred animals from different farms were attributed to one bull. Of the inbred animals, the mean inbreeding coefficient (Fmean) among inbred Friesians, Ayrshires and zebu breeds were 25.9%, 25% and 25%, respectively, while the overall inbreeding coefficients among all the sampled Friesians, Ayrshires and zebus were 0.99%, 0.94% and 0.07%, respectively.
The conclusions are:
(i) Mixed crop-livestock smallholder farmers prefer an animal that embodies most of the important production and adaptability traits (i.e. high milk yield, high growth rate, big body size and, high fertility and high disease resistance);
(ii) besides those common traits, there were significant differences in trait preferences according to production systems which if ignored would lead to biased technical interventions and imperfect breed-production system match and loss of productivity;
(iii) Friesian followed by crossbreds and then the Ayrshire are preferred for production traits, but are perceived to be inferior to the zebu in adaptive traits and butterfat percentage;
(iv) No one genotype is preferred for all the traits under all the social, economic and ecological conditions;
(v) The overall average level of inbreeding in the smallholder herds was relatively low, although the levels among the few inbred animals were high (25%). More broader herd-based studies are required to assess the extent of inbreeding levels in key herds which provide bull-dams and young test bulls in Kenya. | en_US |
