Kenya

This magazine shares a collection of articles with lessons learned of the N2Africa project. The N2Africa project is a research project that aims to improve the quality and yields of grain legume crops and thereby strengthening the economic position of smallholder farmers. It does so by putting nitrogen fixation to work. »

This study quantifies the water and land footprints of current livestock production systems in three agro-ecological zones in Kenya that contrast strongly in terms of land availability and rainfall. Across the three agroecological zones, improving breeds, feed provisioning and milk production per cow may achieve production intensification but concurrently exacerbates resource limitation. Consequently, the heterogeneity inherent in resource availability across dairy production zones should be considered when developing strategies for increasing dairy production. »

This paper begins a discussion on traceability in the pig value chain, with an initial focus on smallholder systems of Western Kenya. In the smallholder context, individual identification is proposed given that farmers may source pigs from different farms and will only keep a few at a time. Appropriate incentives would need to be explored to allow for widespread adoption of the intervention. »

This study examines the determinants and impacts of smallholder-producer participation in avocado export markets on labor inputs, farm yields, sales prices, and incomes in Kenya. Smallholder farmers can benefit from participation in avocado export markets and other supply chain activities. Providing households with access to foreign markets and up-to-date information on farm technology, along with the dissemination of simple and domestically invented technologies, could apparently achieve higher farm incomes, revenues, and sales prices. »

This study examined the barriers faced by men and women farmers in the uptake of livestock vaccines to inform strategies for optimizing the use of vaccines. The study has demonstrated that availability of vaccines does not guarantee uptake at community level due to social, spatial, economic, and vaccine safety and efficacy barriers faced by men and women farmers. »

This paper examines the potential of low emissions development interventions or measures to reduce emissions intensity of livestock in East Africa. The three top recommended practices for reducing greenhouse gas emissions intensities are increased production of improved forages in mixed systems and intensive dairy, the increased use of biodigestors in intensive dairy and improving the management of grazing for pastoral systems. »