Background

Keziah Wangechi was so excited to have been among the few farmers who had qualified to receive a certificate of participation in the livestock improvement program of the Kenya Dairy sector competitiveness program (KDSCP). In her late thirties, Keziah is a mother of four; 2 boys and 2 girls. The first born son is in secondary school (form two) while the rest are in primary school. She has a secondary education. Her husband works as a teacher in a nearby centre to supplement the family income from the cows. The family has 12 acres of land and keeps 4 mature cows and 4 heifers. As a member of Miharati Farmers cooperative society in Central Kenya, she was not satisfied with the level of production of her cows: 6 litres of milk on average from 3 cows. This made an income of Ksh.13, 000(US$ 153) per month.

KDSCP/FFD Intervention

To acquire more skills in dairy management, Keziah would travel by public means to the training centre some 50km away once per month to attend the training sessions with other farmers from some 12 other cooperative societies. Future Focus Development (FFD) was contracted by KDSCP to coordinate these trainings for two years.”Now I have tasted the fruits of my determination and commitment”. She has now paddocked her farm, use AI in improving her cows both Frisians and aryshires breeds, planted improved fodder of different types, is keen on farm record keeping, has put up a 30,000 litres water tank to harvest rain water from the family house and has just completed a permanent guest wing.”Now”, she adds “I have done all this in addition to paying my children school fees. I deliver 35 litres per day (10 litres per cow on average).This has increased my monthly income to 26,000(US$ 308). Moreover I have improved my farm hygiene and have not lost any calves since my training”. She says, pointing at her 4 heifers. Before joining the training mastitis was a common problem on the farm. This is no longer the case. Members of her cooperative and neighbors are frequenting her farm to learn the secret of her increased milk production. She is eager to teach and carry out demonstrations to the other farmers especially on home-made ration, another skill she learned during an exchange visit facilitated by the program last year. This has reduced her cost of inputs now that commercial feeds are very expensive.

KDSCP Effects on the Cooperative

On the other hand the cooperative has not been left behind in that in 2009 when KDSCP/FFD came in to partner with Miharati dairy cooperative society it was collecting 2,400 litres per day and had a cooler of 5,000litres capacity. Now they are collecting 3,500 litres per day. This has made them to procure another cooler of 10,000litres capacity. The management of the cooperative recently invited the KDSCP team to discuss strategies of launching Livestock Farmers’ Field Schools (LFFS) to increase farmers’ production capacity.

Future Trends

Apart from dairy, the family has other enterprises operated on subsistence basis such as wool sheep, indigenous chicken and maize production. Asked whether she has achieved her objective, keziah was quick to reply” of course not. My next step will be to conserve fodder into silage for feeding my cows in the dry months, put up a zero grazing unit and then construct a biogas to cut down the family energy costs. With the improved breeding and record keeping I look forward to adding value to my cows by registering them with the Kenya Livestock Breeders Organization .Today I am proud to be associated with cows. It pays to be a dairy farmer!!”Kezia aims at achieving a production of 40 litres per cow per day.

“the Lord plans to prosper, give you a future and a hope…” Jer 29:11

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