Milk production grew steadily in East Africa in the 1980s and 1990s. The pace of growth has since accelerated with recent high rates of income growth and urbanization. Much of market demand has been met by smallholder dairy farmers, typically with 1–3 cows on farms measuring 0.5–1.5 hectares. Milk productivity per cow remains very low. In intensive production systems with improved cattle, average milk yields per cow are just 7–8 litres per day, despite the potential of farmers’ breeds to produce at least three times that much (Reynolds et al. 1996). The scarcity and low quantity of feed resources are major constraints on improving the productivity of dairy animals in sub-Saharan Africa (Mapiye et al. 2006).
Publication year
2022
Authors
Language
English
Keywords
conservation (storage), cultivation, markets, medicinal plants, pharmacology, prunus africana
Geographic
Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda
