To achieve better market prices for herders and pastoral communities in northern Kenya, Northern Rangelands Trust-Trading (NRT-T) conducted a pilot project on better feeding practices.
The supplementary feeding was conducted at Il Ngwesi Community Conservancy where 60 bulls were introduced to minerals and protein cattle feed to complement their routine grass feeding.
“We are hoping to supplement the nutrients that cattle feed-on from grass, given that there are many types of grass and not all retain the required nutrients especially during dry seasons,” said Patrick Ekodere, “by having supplementary feeds, cattle get to access protein and salts resulting in additional weight,” he added.
The 90 days project with the participation of 60 bulls resulted in 400gm daily weight gain on the average per bull.
This is the first approach in a project aimed at empowering pastoral herders to better their prices at the markets, this will go along way in putting extra cash in their pockets.
“We ensured that herders understood basic modern livestock keeping practices, which included proper cattle selection for breeding, age, and health which are critical considerations when doing cattle supplementation,” Patrick said, “spurring livestock productivity in community conservancies with a market-led approach towards value chain success is critical for the livelihoods of communities,” he added.
NRT-T trained the herders on basic herd management and animal health principles to better meet standard beef market requirements.
“We are happy to have been the first community conservancy to witness first hand that we can have better cattle and better beef prices, we are thankful to NRT-T for training us and this will go a long way not only in empowering the herders but also other communities in northern Kenya,” said Kip Olepolos Board Chair Il Ngwesi Conservancy.
“We are hopeful that the project will benefit our herders, given what we have witnessed and heard from our fellow community conservancy members, this project is truly inspiring and beneficial,” said Ooko Guyo Board Chair Shurr Community Conservancy.
The project which is set to be rolled out through community conservancies had participants from 12 community conservancies from Samburu, Marsabit, Laikipia and Isiolo was spearheaded by NRT, NRT-Trading, Lewa Wildlife Conservancy and Il Ngwesi Community Conservancy .
“During the first half of 2020 NRT-T, purchased cattle from community conservancies in Marsabit, Isiolo and Samburu worth Ksh.76 million, and the money went directly back to the pockets of herders, we have decided to train the herders in order for them to not only get better prices for their cattle but to also understand the current market requirements,” said Vishal Shah NRT-T’s CEO.
During the project and the final training day, good grazing management was noted as paramount for good livestock productivity.
“We are urging all participants to spread the word, that grass is key in northern Kenya, for not only the livelihoods of livestock, and wildlife, but also people,” said Mohammed Shibia, NRT’s Rangelands Officer, “it is for this reason that we encouraged planned rotational grazing and inter-community conservation participation on preserving grass through a project like grass reseeding,” he added.
Grass reseeding goes hand in hand with invasive species clearing like Opuntia Stricta and Acacia reficiens.
In 2019, over 7,100 hectares of degraded land (that used to be productive grazing land), were cleared of Acacia reficiens, in areas where it prevents grasses and other palatable plants from growing.
12,000 kilos of grass seeds were sown in these areas and gullies across more than 4,046 hectares were rehabilitated (using trenches to anchor the earth and cause a build-up of soil when it rains).
This was conducted in Nalowuon, Meibae, Nakuprat-Gotu, Narupa, Melako, Westgate, Kalama, Naibunga Upper, Central, and Lower community conservancies.
