Farmers' Dairy Practices as a Constraint Facing Small-Scale Dairy Farmers in Cheborge in Kericho County, Kenya

Abstract

Achieving food security is part of the agenda of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).  In Kenya, agriculture is the main source of livelihood particularly dairy farming among other agricultural practices. However, farming is a bit constrained by a number of factors leading to low milk production. This study was an enquiry into the socio-economic constraints facing small scale dairy farmers in Cheborge, Kericho County in Kenya. The study was guided by the sustainable livelihood framework. The study was dominantly qualitative and adopted a descriptive research design. A sample size of 109 farmers, representing 20% of the 545 households was selected using stratified sampling. Another ten key respondents were selected through purposive sampling, bringing the total number of respondents to 119. Data was collected through questionnaires and focused group discussion schedules. Quantitative data was analysed using descriptive statistics while qualitative data was analysed using content analysis. The study revealed that educated farmers have more productive farms which were attributed to their ability to adopt new agricultural technology. The study also found out that farming practices affect milk production to the extent that those who practice zero grazing produce more milk than those who practice open grazing. The study further revealed that access to loans had an effect in dairy production because those who had access invested in more superior dairy cows and implements like chaff cutters. It was therefore recommended that both illiterate and semi-illiterate farmers need to be engaged in informal dairy farming education forums by the local Dairy Boards. It was also recommended that farmers embrace modern farming methods for maximum production. Membership in a cooperative society was more beneficial to famers than non-membership. There is need for value addition on milk before it is sold to milk the milk processors. In this way,  the farmers will get more value for their produce. It was further recommended that farmers join ROSCAS/SACCOS from where they could save and borrow money because majority of them could not access the traditional bank loans due to lack of collateral among other requirements. The study recommended that further studies be carried out to establish other possible causes of low milk production and to also investigate on the failure rate of Artificial Insemination technology.