Prospects and constraints facing women small-scale dairy farmers in Vihiga district, Western Kenya

Abstract

One of the major constraints to increased dairy production is lack of adequate feed. The Government of Kenya has encouraged the development of forage technology for adoption to address this constraint. The low adoption has been due to inappropriate technologies and cost of forage production. Data used in the analysis were collected from farmers in Vihiga and Sabatia division of Vihiga District, Western Kenya. Both on-farm experimental and formal survey data were utilized. A sample of 180 farmers was randomly selected using systematic sampling techniques. Cost Benefit analysis was done using Cost-Benefit Ratio (CBR) and Net Present Value (NPV) while regression analysis techniques were used to estimate optimal nutrient levels.

The results of the Cost-Benefit analysis showed most forage technologies were economically viable to adopt. Farmers also ranked highly forage technologies with high economic returns. Based on these findings, research and extension of forage use should emphasise evaluation of forage production technologies as an aid to increasing dairy production and surplus stock food for sale.