Production Challenges and Socio-Economic Impact of Dairy Goat Farming amongst Smallholder Farmers in Kenya.

Dairy goats were first introduced in Kenya in 1950s by British settler farmers in the highlands of Kenya. About 25 years ago the population was estimated at 6,000. The most recent estimate puts the dairy goat population in Kenya at 175,000. The rapid growth has been attributed to the NGOs like Heifer Project International involving smallholder farmers in a participatory approach. The objective of this study was to identify opportunities and challenges amongst smallholder dairy goat farmers, and specifically to evaluate production levels, consumption trends and potential for growth and marketing. Sixty households were interviewed. Amongst households 826 were women of whom 304 were widows, 226 were men. The mean family size was 9.24. There were a total of 4545 children in the households, amongst them 2200 orphans. 68% households had male heads, while 32% had female heads. However, in 74% of the households, females took charge of the daily management of the goat, while in only 26% households males were in charge. Milk production levels ranged between half a litre and ten litres, with overall mean production of 2.15 litres per goat per day. In total, 56.9% of respondents depended entirely on farming activities for livelihood, while 43.1% combined farming and off-farm activities for livelihood. Only 12% used hired labour while 88% depended entirely on family labour for managing the goats. None of the farmers had previous experience in managing a dairy goat. There was need for a systematic practical initial training with a focus on key areas such as feeding and feed resources, breeding, milking, health and record keeping. There was no standard record keeping format. The small pieces of land, especially in Nyanza had a negative effect on dairy goat farming in terms of pasture and fodder production. In Oriang and Ndiru clusters all the family land available was utilized for subsistence farming. There was lack of knowledge of feeding regimes for various categories e.g. the lactating doe, flushing and kids. None of the farmers had knowledge of estimating feed weights, and making appropriate mixtures of the available feeds. Local goats were popular. Upgrading of these goats through crossbreeding would form entry point for a large number of farmers thus increasing dairy goat population faster. Key words: Dairy goats, socio-economic, production, smallholder farmer