Publications

To augment the incomes of smallholder farmers in Kenya and consequently improve their nutrition and income, many development organisations and policy makers are increasingly promoting dairy goat farming. Among the key organisations supporting the initiative is Heifer Project International–-Kenya (HPIK). However, the economic contribution and viability of dairy goats under the HPIK project have not been studied so far. The aim of the present study was to determine the contribution of dairy goats to household income and the performance of the dairy goat enterprise using gross and net margins from dairy goat farming as an indicator of economic viability. A survey covering 71 farmers was carried out in the Coast, Nyanza, and the Rift Valley provinces of Kenya using a set of pre-tested structured and semi-structured questionnaires. Results showed that, on average, the dairy goat enterprise contributed, correspondingly, about 15.2{%} and 4.8{%} to the total livestock and overall household income and was viable. Differences in gross and net margins across agroecological zones were attributed to milk prices. Despite the existence of non-viable enterprises in two of the provinces, the few present suggest the possibility of obtaining reliable incomes from the enterprise. Redoubling of effort or re-orientation of production to match the local and external requirements would, however, be necessary. Costs and revenues were similar across the agroecological zones. Farmers with positive gross margins had better milk and stock sales and vice versa. The success of a dairy goat enterprise is attributed to location and good management. Besides, farmers’ awareness of the market demands within and outside the community is important in establishing production goals and may be crucial to achieving a positive gross margin.

To augment the incomes of smallholder farmers in Kenya and consequently improve their nutrition and income, many development organisations and policy makers are increasingly promoting dairy goat farming. Among the key organisations supporting the initiative is Heifer Project International–-Kenya (HPIK). However, the economic contribution and viability of dairy goats under the HPIK project have not been studied so far. The aim of the present study was to determine the contribution of dairy goats to household income and the performance of the dairy goat enterprise using gross and net margins from dairy goat farming as an indicator of economic viability. A survey covering 71 farmers was carried out in the Coast, Nyanza, and the Rift Valley provinces of Kenya using a set of pre-tested structured and semi-structured questionnaires. Results showed that, on average, the dairy goat enterprise contributed, correspondingly, about 15.2{%} and 4.8{%} to the total livestock and overall household income and was viable. Differences in gross and net margins across agroecological zones were attributed to milk prices. Despite the existence of non-viable enterprises in two of the provinces, the few present suggest the possibility of obtaining reliable incomes from the enterprise. Redoubling of effort or re-orientation of production to match the local and external requirements would, however, be necessary. Costs and revenues were similar across the agroecological zones. Farmers with positive gross margins had better milk and stock sales and vice versa. The success of a dairy goat enterprise is attributed to location and good management. Besides, farmers' awareness of the market demands within and outside the community is important in establishing production goals and may be crucial to achieving a positive gross margin.

To describe the design and delivery of emergency mental health and psychosocial support services for the survivors of Post-Election Violence in Eldoret, Kenya. A longitudinal intervention. The North Rift Valley region in Western Kenya. A total of 80,772 survivors received mental health and psychosocial support services. Counselling and Psychological First Aid services were successfully offered to most survivors in the North Rift Valley region. Common issues addressed included looking for lost relatives, sudden traumatic death of relatives, anger at their attackers, feelings of revenge, fear of seeing the corpse, loss of all property and source of livelihood and denial. It is possible and necessary to integrate a mental health and psychosocial support intervention into a disaster response even in limited resource settings. Further studies are recommended to evaluate the effectiveness of this approach.

A deterministic approach was used to compare breeding strategies utilizing local and imported semen for improvement of dairy cattle in Kenya. The local selection programs considered were a closed progeny testing scheme (CPT) and a young bull system progeny of local bulls (PLB). The continuous semen importation (CSI) and young bull system progeny of imported bulls (PIB) were the strategies based on imports. The breeding strategies were compared on the basis of selection response. The effect of genetic correlation (rg) and initial differences in genetic merit between the two populations was also examined. The CSI and PIB strategies ranked above CPT by, correspondingly, 35.1{%} and 25.0{%} when the rg between Kenya and the USA was assumed to be one. At a rg of 0.58, imports from countries which are 1.50 standard deviation (SD) above the local population were superior to CPT but equal to PLB. This means that if CSI is to be used at a rg of 0.58, then only semen from countries which are >1.50SD should be imported. At a rg of 0.70 and with an initial genetic difference of 1.25SD, the economic responses in CSI and PLB were equal. This indicates that semen importation is only justified when genotype–environment interaction is >0.70. It is concluded that wholesale importation of semen as a means of achieving sustainable genetic progress in Kenya is a less optimal solution and there is the need for an effective local selection program.