Presented by Okeyo A. Mwai at the Workshop on Integrated Dairy Goat and Root Crop Production, ILRI Nairobi, 19 June 2013

1. Opportunities, Challenges and
Prospects for Dairy Goat
Improvement by the Poor: The
Kenyan Experience
Okeyo A. Mwai
Workshop on Integrated Dairy Goat and Root Crop
Production in Tanzania
ILRI, Nairobi, June 19-2013

2. Outline
• Introductory remarks
• Opportunities
• Prospects
• Challenges
• Conclusions

3. Introductory remarks
• Except for rinderpest eradication thro vaccination,
successful livestock improvement that does NOT
involve breed improvement is hard to find
• Genetic improvement provide the building blocks,
and offer huge potential, but:
– the design must be right
– adequate time and capacity
• Dairy goat improvements in the region started >
60 years ago, but not much progress made so far!
• Cross breeding Vs within-breed selection?

4. Opportunities
• Diverse genetic base created by
differential natural & artificial
selection (scope for improvement
and poverty reduction)
• Demand for goat products high &
increasing
Good prices: US$300/goat
youghurt: US$ 1.1/0.25litre
• Several admix populations
available, including those with
exotic commercial breeds
composition
• Genomic tools & ICT available
• Huge existing results & knowledge,
systems to tap into
http://dagris.ilri.cgiar.org

5. Prospects
• Huge potential for both within-breed
selection and cross-breeding
• Good crossbreeding needs to:
- start with good foundations
- focus on the right traits (meat& milk)
- have right design
- practice selection alongside crossbreeding

6. Why cross-breeding?
• New genetics is attractive
• Quick dramatic improvement so “ inspires”
• Triggers management improvements to support
(farmer-managed) breed improvement
• Virtuous spiral breed improvement->
management improvement->improved
production (money)>breed improvement-
>management improvement and so on….
• But many wrong crossbreeding designs are
seen every where!

7. Right design
• Appropriate targeting, sampling & targeting
• Organizational, institutional capacities
– Farmers capacity, empowerment
– Policy makers-supportive policies
• Sustainability:
– technical considerations (the right science & all disciplines)
– The associated value chain development (market & input
services etc)

8. Components of a breeding
programme
Source; Philipsson et al., 2011

9. The FARM-Africa Goat Model - components
• Community-based and managed breed
improvement
Supported by
• Private veterinary system
• Group structure to manage all inputs
• Breeders’ Association to manage breeding
• All key inputs in hands of farmers

10. Beyond the Initial Supply of Breeding Stock: The
FARM Africa Dairy Goat Model
NEW BUCK STATION NEW BREEDING UNIT
GROUP BREEDING UNIT
4 Females + 1 Buck
[Several Dispersed]
OFFSPRING
50%M 50%F
BUCKS DOES
Sold
Weaned
Surplus
Surplus
2%
10%
10%5%
NEW BUCK STATION NEW BREEDING UNIT
GROUP BREEDING UNIT
4 Females + 1 Buck
[Several Dispersed]
OFFSPRING
50%M 50%F
BUCKS DOES
Sold
Weaned
Surplus
Surplus
2%
10%
10%5%

11. The Dispersed Nuclei Goat improvement design
NEW BUCK STATION NEW BREEDING UNIT
GROUP BREEDING UNIT
4 Females + 1 Buck
[Several Dispersed]
OFFSPRING
50%M 50%F
BUCKS DOES
Sold
Weaned
Surplus
Surplus
2%
10%
10%5%
NEW BUCK STATION NEW BREEDING UNIT
GROUP BREEDING UNIT
4 Females + 1 Buck
[Several Dispersed]
OFFSPRING
50%M 50%F
BUCKS DOES
Sold
Weaned
Surplus
Surplus
2%
10%
10%5%
NEW BUCK STATION NEW BREEDING UNIT
GROUP BREEDING UNIT
4 Females + 1 Buck
[Several Dispersed]
OFFSPRING
50%M 50%F
BUCKS DOES
Sold
Weaned
Surplus
Surplus
2%
10%
10%5%
NEW BUCK STATION NEW BREEDING UNIT
GROUP BREEDING UNIT
4 Females + 1 Buck
[Several Dispersed]
OFFSPRING
50%M 50%F
BUCKS DOES
Sold
Weaned
Surplus
Surplus
2%
10%
10%5%
NEW BUCK STATION NEW BREEDING UNIT
GROUP BREEDING UNIT
4 Females + 1 Buck
[Several Dispersed]
OFFSPRING
50%M 50%F
BUCKS DOES
Sold
Weaned
Surplus
Surplus
2%
10%
10%5%
NEW BUCK STATION NEW BREEDING UNIT
GROUP BREEDING UNIT
4 Females + 1 Buck
[Several Dispersed]
OFFSPRING
50%M 50%F
BUCKS DOES
Sold
Weaned
Surplus
Surplus
2%
10%
10%5%
NEW BUCK STATION NEW BREEDING UNIT
GROUP BREEDING UNIT
4 Females + 1 Buck
[Several Dispersed]
OFFSPRING
50%M 50%F
BUCKS DOES
Sold
Weaned
Surplus
Surplus
2%
10%
10%5%
NEW BUCK STATION NEW BREEDING UNIT
GROUP BREEDING UNIT
4 Females + 1 Buck
[Several Dispersed]
OFFSPRING
50%M 50%F
BUCKS DOES
Sold
Weaned
Surplus
Surplus
2%
10%
10%5%
NEW BUCK STATION NEW BREEDING UNIT
GROUP BREEDING UNIT
4 Females + 1 Buck
[Several Dispersed]
OFFSPRING
50%M 50%F
BUCKS DOES
Sold
Weaned
Surplus
Surplus
2%
10%
10%5%
NEW BUCK STATION NEW BREEDING UNIT
GROUP BREEDING UNIT
4 Females + 1 Buck
[Several Dispersed]
OFFSPRING
50%M 50%F
BUCKS DOES
Sold
Weaned
Surplus
Surplus
2%
10%
10%5%
NEW BUCK STATION NEW BREEDING UNIT
GROUP BREEDING UNIT
4 Females + 1 Buck
[Several Dispersed]
OFFSPRING
50%M 50%F
BUCKS DOES
Sold
Weaned
Surplus
Surplus
2%
10%
10%5%
NEW BUCK STATION NEW BREEDING UNIT
GROUP BREEDING UNIT
4 Females + 1 Buck
[Several Dispersed]
OFFSPRING
50%M 50%F
BUCKS DOES
Sold
Weaned
Surplus
Surplus
2%
10%
10%5%
FARMER ORG.

12. FARM-Africa Goat Model
Tested in 4 countries over 19 years

13. Pressures for intensification/
specialisation
• External pressures in
smallholder systems
– Crop yields plateau
– Land holdings shrink and
fragment
– Cash crop prices
stagnate/decline
– Unreliable support services
to cattle
– =Huge desire by farmers
to start intensive goat
production

14. Housing Forage

15. Farmer-managed breed
improvement
• Crossbreeding local
goats with Toggenburg
bucks in community-
managed buck
stations
• Replacement bucks
bred from group
managed breeding
units

16. Direct benefits – use of income
• Education
• House improvement
• Investment in farm
• Hospital bills
• Food
• Re-investment in goat
enterprise

17. Direct benefits - products
• Milk F1 2-3 litres/day 6-8
mths lactation
• Milk F2 75% Togg 3-4
litres/day
• Selling surplus milk
• Goats houses – manure,
urine, waste feed –> crop
land some farmers -> export
veg out-growers
• Local slaughter sale meat

18. Impact – e.g. Mr Kinoti from Meru
Kenya
• Casual labourer
• Received two goats
• Buck keeper ->
• Now owns 2ha land
• Bought oxen for contract
ploughing
• Daughters to school
• Sons starting business in
town

19. Example of a new type of farmers
organisation:Meru Goat Breeders Assoc’n
• Manage breeding
stock
• Breed registration
• Market breeding stock
• Organise goat shows
& training

21. Options for MGBA financial viability
1. Increase prices of all
services
2. Increase members
3. Milk collection and
marketing
4. Milk processing
5. Goat slaughterhouse

22. Private veterinary system
• Farmers trained as
‘barefoot vets’
(CAHW’s) supplied by
veterinary assistants
running small drug
shops
• Backstopped by
qualified private
veterinarian

23. Even the poorest can produce milk
for home and sale
How about special goat meat
meat cuts in super markets?

24. Performance Kenya1996-to-date
Item Meru Kitui
Bucks stations 162 in project area + 42+
Members 4870 930
Crossbreds 100,000+
Breeding units 128
No households
(direct)
8,235 ?
No of upgrade &
purebred
Toggenburgs
54000 4504

25. • High mortality rates (> 7 %)
• Too small herd sizes or too large herds, but too
mobile
• High transaction costs associated with inputs,
breeding, access t animal health & market
services
• Low incentives to invest in technology (AI)
• Poor supportive organizational & institutional
frameworks to support performance recording
• Undeveloped value chains
Challenges

26. Why is the Goat Model successful
• Addressed real need
• Inspiring ! (Fire from within)
• Locally appropriate approach
• Scale (small (25 group member units so is
manageable)
• Comprehensive/synchronised services
• Limited continuing external inputs
• Financially viable (encourage savings)

27. Some conclusions
• Design need to be appropriate with long term focus
• Most failures are organizational and institutional
• Policy need to be supportive
• Flexibility is needed (it does have to be a purebreed so long as
it produces adequate milk, grows fasta nd is well adapted)
• National & regional networks needed to ensure:
– sustainable improvement (effective breeding population size)
– Community of practice
– exchange of breeding stock/ideas
• Selection, formal genetic evaluation and farmer organization
necessary
• Business approach/model for delivery of dairy goat genetics
needed

28. Thank you