ICRAF and partners are currently facilitating the use of nine species of fodder shrubs across a range of agro-ecological zones - from the humid lowlands of coastal Kenya and Tanzania to altitudes above 2,500 meters in Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda.
Fodder shrubs were first introduced in the East African highlands in the early 1990s as a solution to a problem that has plagued dairy farmers for generations : the lack of an inexpensive and plentiful source of high-protein animal feed. Providing a reliable form of fodder year-round, they are easy to grow and, by fixing atmospheric nitrogen, improve soil fertility. They can withstand repeated pruning and do not compete with food crops. The plants mature in about twelve months, after which they can be fed to livestock – continuously, for many years.
Most smallholder farms lack good grazing land, and periodic droughts mean raising animals in East Africa is a risky business that can overwhelm even skillful farmers. Fodder shrubs help reduce this risk – they do not involve cash expenditures or require taking land out of production. Rather, they allow farmers to save money that would otherwise have been used to purchase dairy meal. Shrubs are planted along farm and field boundaries, around homesteads, and across contours to help curb soil erosion - making it an appropriate technology for smallholder dairy farmers who are constrained by resource availability,especially land.
Despite the great potential that fodder shrubs offer, knowledge of and access to quality planting materials is a major constraint. Furthermore, institutional mechanisms for widespread adoption are limited. In the early 1990s, ICRAF together with ILRI, the Kenya Forestry Research Institute (KEFRI) and the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI), tested the appropriate species for different agro-ecological zones, the management and utilization of the fodder shrubs, value adding through leaf-meal processing and formulation of home-made feed rations. This research helps smallholder farmers to optimize productivity of fodder shrubs. Research was also conducted on economic returns from feeding dairy animals and on alternative dissemination pathways.
The results of these efforts include :
• 224 organizations in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Rwanda are promoting or have promoted fodder shrubs; shrubs average 75 to 306 per farmer.
• An estimated 205,000 farmers are growing fodder shrubs. 48% to 59% of these are women.
• Seed sales by private vendors are booming in Kenya.
What is the impact?
• Dairy farmers increase milk production and improve the profitability of their dairy enterprises. In the first year, farmers spend about $US11 raising and transplanting the seedlings. Harvesting begins in the second year and each year thereafter, the farmer earns $US95-122 from increased milk production.
• The shrubs have several additional benefits: firewood, a supply of nectar for honey bees, curbing soil erosion when planted along contours, improving the butterfat content of milk, and significantly reducing the effort needed to collect fodder from distant locations.
Farmer-to-farmer dissemination is a key driving force behind the spread of the practice. Survey results from the four East African countries show that 57% of adopters give out seed and seedlings to an average of 6.3 other farmers. What was most astounding was that 5% of the farmers accounted for 66% of the farmer-to-farmer dissemination.
ICRAF
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