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

Outline

• Introductory remarks

• Opportunities

• Prospects

• Challenges

• Conclusions

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?

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

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

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!

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)

Components of a breeding programme

Source; Philipsson et al., 2011

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

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

Su

rplu

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Su

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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

Su

rplu

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2%

10%

10%5%

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

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2%

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GROUP BREEDING UNIT

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OFFSPRING

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BUCKS DOES

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GROUP BREEDING UNIT

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BUCKS DOES

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GROUP BREEDING UNIT

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OFFSPRING

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BUCKS DOES

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NEW BUCK STATION NEW BREEDING UNIT

GROUP BREEDING UNIT

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OFFSPRING

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BUCKS DOES

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GROUP BREEDING UNIT

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OFFSPRING

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BUCKS DOES

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Weaned

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NEW BUCK STATION NEW BREEDING UNIT

GROUP BREEDING UNIT

4 Females + 1 Buck

[Several Dispersed]

OFFSPRING

50%M 50%F

BUCKS DOES

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Weaned

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GROUP BREEDING UNIT

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OFFSPRING

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BUCKS DOES

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2%

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NEW BUCK STATION NEW BREEDING UNIT

GROUP BREEDING UNIT

4 Females + 1 Buck

[Several Dispersed]

OFFSPRING

50%M 50%F

BUCKS DOES

Sold

Weaned

Su

rplu

s

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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

Su

rplu

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2%

10%

10%5%

FARMER ORG.

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

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

Housing Forage

Farmer-managed breed improvement

• Crossbreeding local goats with Toggenburg bucks in community-managed buck stations

• Replacement bucks bred from group managed breeding units

Direct benefits – use of income

• Education

• House improvement

• Investment in farm

• Hospital bills

• Food

• Re-investment in goat enterprise

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

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

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

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

Private veterinary system

• Farmers trained as ‘barefoot vets’ (CAHW’s) supplied by veterinary assistants running small drug shops

• Backstopped by qualified private veterinarian

Even the poorest can produce milk for home and sale

How about special goat meat meat cuts in super markets?

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

• 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

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)

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

Thank you