The uptake of Calliandra calothyrsus as a fodder shrub by small-scale dairy farmers was assessed several years after the shrubs were introduced to farmers in on-farm trials. There was strong evidence that farmers were adopting the shrub. A random sample of 45 farmers had increased their average number of shrubs from 84 in their first plantings in 1991–1992 to 311 after 6–7 years. Moreover, farmer-to-farmer dissemination appeared to be high, as 47% had harvested seed and 70% of these had given or sold seed or seedlings to other farmers. The net benefits of using 6 kg of fresh calliandra leaves per day as a substitute for 2 kg purchased dairy meal or as a supplement to farmers’ basefeeding regime amounted to about US$130 per cow year1. By 2000, several thousand farmers in central Kenya were feeding calliandra to their dairy animals. Potential benefits from adopting calliandra or similar fodder shrub species in Kenya’s smallholder dairy sector amounted to about US$139,000,000 year1. Several measures were proposed to help realize this potential: facilitating on-farm research and dissemination of information and planting material, research to identify new fodder shrub species, and assessing the constraints and incentives affecting fodder shrub adoption.
Publication year
2002
Authors
Franzel, S.; Arimi, H.K.; Muriithi F M
Language
English
Keywords
agroforestry, calliandra calothyrsus, calliandra calothyrsus, fodder crops, highlands, technology
Geographic
Kenya
