Proven dairy technologies for smallholder and
medium scale market-oriented dairy systems
Kwaku Agyemang, FAO Consultant
FAO-ILRI Regional Training Workshop on Proven Livestock
Technologies, ILRI, Addis Ababa, 3-5 December 2018

RECAP OF WORKSHOP OBJECTIVES AS
RELATED TO THE DAIRY PRESENTATION
Introduction
• A three-day training workshop bringing together livestock farmers,
processors and marketers belonging to various Associations in eight
countries under the umbrella of the East Africa Farmers Federation .
• The main objective is to train actors in the dairy sectors in livestock-
based technologies, and to share experiences in technology use and
uptake
• The training workshop will focus on ILRI generated scalable
technologies improved dairy production and proven management
practices.
• The Presentation deals with dairying, research and field trials and
interventions that were carried out by various ILRI programs in East
and West Africa, upon which basis the dairy technologies were
developed and introduced to farmers and processors

Order of Presentation of course
materials/information
A: Background and Context
• Why should the dairy sectors receive interventions/improvements with
technologies and policies/strategies?
• What have the dairy sectors/industries been like in the past, prior to
interventions
• In which/what systems are dairying taking place
• Bottlenecks, constraints and challenges in the systems
• Addressing bottle necks and constraints: towards the development of
technologies
• Examples of pre-technology interventions, and response to interventions

Order of Presentation of course
materials/information
B: Three ILRI/Partners Proven Technologies in support of
Dairying in Eastern Africa with emphasis on Kenya
 The proven Technologies
 Stakeholders
 Commercial Aspects of the Technologies
 Gender and Youth roles
 Known challenges with technologies
 Key Lessons to consider for scaling the Technology

In Brief: Just in case we are not able to go
through all slides
Will tell you about a few technologies ILRI/ILCA developed or fine-tuned
A brief history of how the technologies came into being
Give a few examples of the data used to formulate technologies and how
these give some level of confidence in the use of the technologies
Refer to some farmers in Central and Western Kenya who used the
technologies
What ILRI learnt from the adoption studies on these technologies
Resources available
• This Power Presentation will be available to all Participants
• A comprehensive Lecture Notes from which the Presentation
was made will be available to all Participants

WHY INTERVENTIONS IN THE DAIRY
SECTORS IN EASTERN AFRICA
Dairy sectors crucial for development and employment
• In some countries in the region (Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda)
dairy sectors contribute substantially to Agricultural GDP, and provide significant
employment.
• Poverty reduction in some countries
• Food and Nutrition security from consumption of milk and
dairy products in all countries
• East Africa is the leading first milk producing region in Africa,
• Dairying one of the fastest growing agriculture sub-sectors in
East African countries

WHY INTERVENTIONS IN THE DAIRY
SECTORS IN EASTERN AFRICA
• Eastern Africa is a prime example of where the
Concept of value addition has been successful
• Intra-regional trade in dairying is slowly rising, in-
spite of it being essentially domestic enterprises
• Dairying sectors forging Regional Integration----
common policies being developed
• Despite these positive developments in the region
there exists serious bottlenecks and constraints in
the Sector

HOW HAVE DAIRYING DEVELOPMENT BEEN
LIKE AS SECTORS OR SUBSECTORS
PASTORAL SYSTEMS:
• Rely on local genotypes generally not really improved for dairy
production, example Zebu cattle as found in Maasai herds in Kenya.
• Feeding and watering systems based on trekking long distances, looking
for feeds/forages as found in rangelands. Rarely or only infrequent diet
supplementation with processed or compounded feeds:
• Animal Health: Minimal health inputs, often applied without
standardized dosage, application of local traditional medications of no
quantified benefits
• Products processing: Basic. Mainly based on souring and fermentation at
household level
• Marketing/Distribution: Exchanges with local communities, minimal
collection for sale to commercial concerns

BOTTLENECKS/CONSTRAINTS/CHALLENGES
IN THE DAIRY SYSTEMS
The bottlenecks, constraints and challenges usually
manifest themselves in
 Low rate of processing capacity utilization
 Low demand for processed dairy products, notably
pasteurized milk
 Limited diversification
 High cost of production
 Seasonal fluctuation—seasonal shortages
 Poor milk quality limits volume of processed milk products
(milk powder, sour milk

BOTTLENECKS/CONSTRAINTS/CHALLENGES
IN THE DAIRY SYSTEMS
The bottlenecks, constraints and challenges usually
manifest themselves in
 Low productivity of 0.5 litre to 3 litres of daily milk
offtake from local breeds of cattle and 3-5 litres from
improved breeds
 Poor infrastructure
 Low use of technologies
 Absence or inadequate private sector participation in
formulating and implementation of economic and sectoral
policies

TECHNOLOGIES NEEDED BUT HOW DO
THEY COME ABOUT?
Technologies are often developed from scratch based on extensive research
and field trials
or
Adapted from existing technologies from elsewhere ,and used after
modifications based on field trials:
• Confidence in Technologies often depends on the manner in which they
were developed, the quality of information collected and the reliability
on field testing results
• Effectiveness of Technologies often depend on the range of
environments where the research trials took place or where
technologies were tested for adaptation.

DAIRY AND RELATED TECHNOLOGIES AS ONE OF THE AVENUES
OF ADDRESSING BOTTLENECKS AND CONSTRAINTS
APPROACHES TOWARDS TECHNOLOGY
DEVELOPMENT
 Research
 Experimentations
 Field trials and testing
 Response Studies
 Community participation
 Financial and economic evaluations of interventions

In the Beginning, ILCA (ILRI) created a Conceptual
Framework for Dairy Reseach and Development
Objectives: The broad objective of research conducted within this framework is to
identify and act upon relevant researchable issues and improvement options to
promote the development of the dairy sector in sub-Saharan Africa. The specific
objectives are to:
• Understand the evolution and development trends of dairy systems
• Characterise existing dairy systems
• Identify constraints and opportunities, and prioritise the researchable issues for
improvement of dairy systems
• Develop and test cost-efficient technologies/components for
improvment of dairy systems
• Develop policy strategies to support efficient dairy systems
• Make impact on NARS dairy systems research programmes through the
development of methodologies and tools, including models, that could be used
by them.

EXAMPLES OF INTERVENTIONS LEADING TO TECHNOLOGY
FORMULATION : West Africa Experiences
WEST AFRICA EXPERIENCE:
Establishing the Baselines: Surveys, Monitoring
Breed System of
Production/Co
untry
Milk
offtake*
(kg)
Milk yield
(kg)
Lactation
length
(days)
Average yield or
offtake per day
(kg)
Zebu
White Fulani
(Bunaji)
Station/Nigeria 627 194 3.23
" " 1034 245 4.22
" Settled
Pastoral/Nigeri
a
234 -
" " 286 -
Sudanese Fulani Pastoral/Mali 219 - 330 0.66
" Station/Mali 522
Sokoto Gudali Station/Nigeria - 1289 294 4.38

EXAMPLES OF INTERVENTIONS LEADING TO TECHNOLOGY
FORMULATION : West Africa Experiences
Establishing the baseline (Continued)
IT IS CLEAR FROM TABLE THAT FOR INDIGENOUS DUAL PURPOSE BREEDS CONSIDERABLE
VARIATIONS IN MILK YIELD OCCURS. THEREFORE CHOICE OF BREEDS IS CRUCIAL
Wadara Station/Nigeria - 1212 259 4.68
Azawak Station/Burkina
Faso
- 530 158 3.36
Taurines
West African
Dwarf Shorthorn
(Muturu)
Station/Nigeria - 421 216 1.95
Lagune Traditional/Tog
o
295 - 225 1.31
Ghana Shorthorn Station/Ghana - 774 295 2.62
N'Dama (2 x
milking)
Village/Gambia 440 - 434 1.01
N'Dama (1 x
milking)
Village/Gambia 322 - 525 0.61
Kuri
Kuri Station/Nigeria - 1350 300 4.5
Kuri x Wadara Station/Nigeria - 3126 336 9.28

FEED AND FEEDING INTERVENTIONS FOR MILKING SYSTEMS
FOR VARIOUS CATTLE GENOTYPES UNDER DIFFERENT
PRODUCTION SYSTEMS: RESPONSE STUDIES
System/Location/
Year/Season
Feed type/level
Duratio
n of trial
(wks)
Milk
offtake
(kg/d)
% increase in
milk over level
Previous
Base
Zero-grazed/Bunaji
(full diet)
Ibadan, Nigeria, 1997
(1)
(See Fig. 5.2) ED
Peri-urban/Bunaji
(Supplementation to
communal grazing),
Kaduna, Nigeria, 1997
(2)
(See Fig. 5.1) LD
Zero-grazed/crossbred
(Friesian-Bunaji)
Zaria, Nigeria, 1994 (3)
Mix CSC, DBG,
LH
3.5 kg TDN/d
4.5
5.5
6.5
Mix CSC, DBG,
GH
0 kgTDN/d
1
2
3
4
LH/SS
1 kg LH/d
1.5
2.0
12
weeks
12
weeks
2.1
2.0
3.2
3.0
0.75
1.75
2.30
2.25
2.40
3.45
3.82
4.79
4.93
- -
5 5
56 57
-6 43
- -
130 130
31 206
-2 200
7 220
- -
12 12
25 39
3 43

IMPACT OF INCREASED QUANTITY & QUALITY FEEDS
ON MILK YIELDS
IT IS CLEAR FROM TABLE THAT FOR ALL
GENOTYPES OF CATTLE BREEDS USED FOR
MILK PRODUCTION, INCREASES IN MILK
YIELDS RESULTED FROM INTERVENING
WITH SUPERIOR FEEDS, AND GENERALLY
MORE MILK RESULTED FROM MORE OF THE
SUPERIOR FEEDS

ANIMAL HEALTH INTERVENTIONS: DEWORWING, TICK
CONTROL
System/Location/
Year/Season
Type of
intervention
N
Frequency/
duration of
intervention
MO (kg/mo)
CONT. TRT
MO over
control group
%
Peri-urban/Bunaji
Kaduna, Nigeria, 1995-96
(1) ED/LD/EW/LW
"
"
Peri-urban/Bunaji
Oyo, Nigeria, 1997-8 (2)
ED/LD/EW/LW
Peri-urban/Bunaji,
Zaria, Nigeria, 1997 (3)
LD/EW
Peri-urban/Bunaji,
Zaria, Nigeria, 1998 (3)
LD/EW
Peri-urban/Gobra
St Louis, Senegal, 1998
(4) LD/EW
Peri-urban/Zebu
S-bougou/Mali, 1997 (5)
LD/EW
Helminth control
(Levamisol)
Tick control
(Pour-on
acaricide)
Tick +
Helminth control
(Levamisol)
Helminth control
(Albenzal)
Helminth control
(Banminth-f)
Helminth control
(Banaminth-f)
Helminth control
(Exhelm/Disto)
Helminth control
(Fenbendazole)
20
20
20
18
40
33
30
15
8x/yr
4x/yr
8x, 4/yr
3x/yr
3x/4 mo
3x/4 mo
1x/5 mo
2x/3 mo
22
22
22
20
20
20
5
66
31
28
34
23
19
23
6
93
40
27
54
15
-17
16
10
41

IMPACT OF ANIMAL HEALTH & FEEDS INTERVENTIONS
ON MILK PRODUCTION
System/Location/
Year
Type of
intervention†
Frequenc
y/
Duration
of
interventi
on
MO (kg/mo)
CON. TRT
Peri-
urban/Bunaji, §
Oyo, Nigeria,
1997-8
ED/LD/EW/LW
(1)
Peri-urban/Bunaji
Zaria, Nigeria,
1997
LD/EW (2)
Peri-urban/Bunaji
Zaria, (6)
Helminth
control +
feed
supplementat
ion
Helminth
control +
feed
supplementat
ion
§Helminth
control +
Feed
supplementat
3x/yr per
year daily
for 4 mos
3x/4 mo
daily for 4
mos
3x/4 mo
daily for 4
mos
1x/5 mo
daily for 5
mos
20
23
20
5
25
38
32
20

IMPACT OF ANIMAL HEALTH INTERVENTIONS ON MILK
PRODUCTION
IT IS CLEAR FROM TABLE THAT FOR ALL GENOTYPES OF
CATTLE BREEDS USED FOR MILK PRODUCTION, INCREASES IN
MILK YIELDS RESULTED FROM INTERVENING WITH ANIMAL
HEALTH INPUTS--- DEWORMING, TICK CONTROL.
IT IS CLEAR FROM TABLE THAT FOR ALL GENOTYPES OF
CATTLE BREEDS USED FOR MILK PRODUCTION,
INCREASES IN MILK YIELDS RESULTED FROM
INTERVENING WITH ANIMAL HEALTH INPUTS---
DEWORMING AND WITH FEEDS/FEEDING INTERVENTIONS
BUT ARE THESE PRACTICES PROFITABLE?

PROFITABILITY OF FEED AND ANIMAL HEALTH
INTERVENTIONS FOR MILK PRODUCTION
System/Location/Year Type of intervention
Margin in milk
yield+
over untreated
control (l)
Margin in US$
over untreated
control
Benefit:
Cost Ratio
Peri-urban – Bunaji
Oyo, Nigeria, 1997/8
(1)
Peri-urban – Bunaji
Zaria, Nigeria, 1997
(2)
Peri-urban – Bunaji
Zaria, Nigeria, 1998
(2)
Peri-urban – Gobra
St. Louis, Nigeria, 1998
(3)
Peri-urban – Sanga
Accra, Ghana, 1998
(4)
Deworming
Feed supplementation
Deworming + Feed
supplementation
Deworming
Feed supplementation
Deworming + Feed
supplementation
Deworming
Feed supplementation
Deworming + Feed
supplementation
Deworming
Feed supplementation
Deworming + Feed
supplementation
Deworming
Feed supplementation
Deworming + Feed
supplementation
70
36
149
59
61
165
52
127
183
0
92
157
0
41
96
30.60
13.89
67.05
-5.61
18.90
38.15
9.79
21.62
36.26
0
7.30
29.52
0
4.39
4.88
16.5:1
6.3:1
6.2:1
25.3:1
2.8:1
3.2:1
27.7:1
2.7:1
3.0:1
2.9:1
1.6:1
2.2:1
4.5:1
1.4:1
1.3:1

PROFITABILITY OF COMBINED
INTERVENTIONS ON MILK PRODUCTION
IT IS CLEAR FROM TABLE THAT FOR ALL
GENOTYPES OF CATTLE BREEDS USED FOR
MILK PRODUCTION, INCREASES IN MILK
YIELDS RESULTED FROM INTERVENING
WITH ANIMAL HEALTH INPUTS---
DEWORMING, TICK CONTROL AND WITH
FEEDS/FEEDING INTERVENTIONS WERE
PROFITABLE WITH FAVOURABLE
BENEFIT:COST RATIO

SOME TECHNOLOGIES USED IN ILRI (ILCA)
ENGAGEMENTS WITH FARMERS IN AFRICA
SINGLE TECHNOLOGIES (COMPONENTS)
• Improved genotypes – breeds, crossbreds, composite breeds
• Feeds- forages, concentrates, combinations (supplements, full diets)
• Feeding—practices, frequency
• Milking practices (once, twice, thrice daily, alternates, etc)
• Animal health inputs/interventions--- vaccinations, deworming, tick
control, etc
• Management (housing, milking practices, feeding)
• Value addition- processing, storage, marketing

SOME TECHNOLOGIES USED IN ILRI (ILCA)
ENGAGEMENTS WITH FARMERS IN AFRICA
COMPOSITE TECHNOLOGIES
• Genotype *Feeds
• Genotype*Health
• Feeds*Health
• Genotype*Management
• Genotype*Feed*Health
• Genotype*Health*Management

ILRI AND ASSOCIATED PARTNERS PROVEN
TECHNOLOGIES FOR DAIRY SECTORS
A: KEEPING OF IMPROVED CATTLE OR GRADE CATTLE
Improved or Grade cattle have at least 50% exotic dairy genes
Crossbreds OR high grade cattle (cows) required
EXAMPLES OF RESULTS FROM CENTRAL AND WESTERN KENYA
Some results of the application of the technology and their adoption over several
years evaluated in 1996-2000 and 2004.
 Younger households started keeping improved cattle
 Aging had negative effect on discontinuing grade cattle keeping
 Getting more adult members over time has positive effect on starting dairy
farms—illustrating the labour intensity of the activity
 Large land size is needed for continuing build up/expanded use of grade cattle
 Farmers with low availability of formal milk marketing outlets in their
neighbourhood more likely NOT to keep grade cattle

LOOKING AHEAD AND BUILDING ON THE
PAST AND LESSONS LEARNT
A new development by ILRI and Partners, based on the experiences on
testing and evaluating crossbred and grade cattle technologies is the “Dairy
Genetics for Africa” under development.
THE AFRICAN DAIRY GENETIC GAINS PROGRAM:
The African Dairy Genetics Gain program works with small-
scale farmers through partners (notably the Land O’ Lakes PAID
program) to build ICT-based reporting and support systems
which link farmers to sources of improved genetics and provide
information for identifying better adapted genetics. Currently
discussing partnerships to scale-out into additional African
countries

ILRI AND ASSOCIATED PARTNERS PROVEN
TECHNOLOGIES FOR DAIRY SECTORS
B:Use of Feed Concentrates for feeding dairy cows
Requires that concentrates form substantial part of cows diets
Concentrates mostly bought from tested commercial sources
Homemade compounded agro-industrial by products may contribute to feeds
 Households with more adult members are more likely to start feeding
concentrates, and LESS likely to stop it, reflecting the labour intensive
nature of concentrate feeding.
 Increased land size overtime increases the likelihood of NOT feeding
concentrates, suggesting that additional land is used for planted fodder
at the expense of using concentrates
 Farmers with low availability of formal marketing outlets in their
neighbourhood are MORE likely NOT to feed concentrates

ILRI AND ASSOCIATED PARTNERS PROVEN
TECHNOLOGIES FOR DAIRY SECTORS
C:Plant Fodder for dairy animals feeding
A balanced proportion of grasses and leguminous plants recommended for planting,
depending on other sources of feed available at farm level or for purchase
Most likely grasses include Napier Grass (Pennisetum purpureus ) or Brachiara
For legume fodder, Centro (Centrocema pubescens), Green leaf desmodium (Desmodium
intortum), Silver leaf desmodium (Desmodium uncinatum), Glycine (Glycine javanica),
Lucerne or Alfalfa (Medicago sativa) and Leucaena spp are among the likely candidates
 Farmers who start growing fodder are those with less land, suggesting
that under decreasing land availability, farmers find it appropriate to
intensify dairy production by allocating some land to a dairy
specialized crop like Napier grass or Brachiara
 Farmers who do NOT keep improved cattle and do NOT grow planted
fodder have lower market access.

LOOKING AHEAD AND BUILDING ON THE
PAST AND LESSONS LEARNT
A new development by ILRI and Partners, based on the
experiences on testing and evaluating Napier grass
technologies is the “New Brachiaria varieties for Africa” under
development.
New Brachiaria varieties for Africa
Several varieties of Brachiaria, both local and imported from Latin America
have been tested in different agro-ecological zones in Kenya and Rwanda
with the KALRO and RAB, respectively. Several have proven to be adapted to
drought and low fertility soils. By increasing forage availability by up to
three months in the dry season, milk production increases between 15 and
50%, and live weight gains of over 50% in young cattle have been achieved.
These varieties are now being tested in Mali with interest in Cameroon

MULTI-COMPONENT TECHNOLOGIES IN
DAIRY SECTORS
D: COMBINATION OF KEEPING Crossbred/grade/improved
genotypes, feeding of concentrates and planting of improved
fodder for feeding of milking animals
• A technology consisting of the three aforementioned
technologies was also introduced to farmers as a total
package. Health interventions were also part of the package
in many instances.
• The requirements of each of the single
technologies may jointly apply in full or in modified
forms

TECHNOLOGY IMPLEMENTATION
STRATEGY : PRACTICAL STEPS
The STEPS include:
• Communicate: communication about the technology and what it seeks to address
• Identify key persons and partner institutions to lead the change sought by the
technology
• Document the path which the technology will take to bring the required change
• Assemble teams including community leaders that would ensure that the new
technology is smoothly integrated into the dairy operations and farming systems
Ensure that the core teams to introduce the technology are well versed in the
background data/ information that prompted the development of the
technology.
• Put together the right team and work plans for introducing the technology the
right timing that fits the routines and right calendar seasons must be identified
before the actual on-the-field events.

STEPS USED IN DEVELOPING CROSSBRED
COWS AND DISTRIBUTION TO FARMERS
The Gambia Peri-Urban Dairy Scheme:
The Lead Institution (ITC) with partners developed nucleus herd of N’Dama
cattle females and inseminated them with Friesian and Jersey semen to
produce F1s, preceded by communication. Management regimes were
defined and documented. Milk production and reproduction performance
among F1 females monitored and evaluated by teams. Process repeated
under smallholder farm conditions to produce crossbreds, with training for
farmers. Performance at farm level monitored, and technology fine-tuned.
The Malawi smallholder dairy scheme:
The initial provision of crossbred heifers and cows in first lactation to smallholder farmers in selected
provinces followed a process of Government run research and multiplication stations undertaking the actual
crossbreeding programme.
The products (crossbred and composite cows) were then made available to smallholder dairy farmers, after
undergoing the minimum required training in animal husbandry and improved management practices.

STAKEHOLDERS FOR A TYPICAL DAIRY TECHNOLOGY
DEVELOPMENT , DISSEMINATION, MONITORING AND
EVALUATION
For technologies in the dairy sectors the stakeholders will include all the
actors in the continuum: Technology generators to consumers of milk and
dairy products. These include
 Research/Development Institutions and Partners
 Producers and their Communities and Associations or Cooperatives
 Processors and their Communities and Associations or Cooperatives
 Marketers and their Communities and Associations or Cooperatives
 Government/County Regulators
 State/County/Local level government Revenue operators
 Consumers and Associations
 Donors/Development Partners

KNOWN CHALLENGES
Crossbred/High grade cattle:
• Production of crossbreds must initially be done by Government sub-vented
institutions or private sector. This is tedious slow process, even with technologic
advancement
• Keeping and managing crossbreds at farm levels require special skills, often not
possessed by many farmers
Concentrates use
• Manufacturing of concentrates pose challenges to actors in the chain, particularly
with the often non-availability of ingredients for production
• Use of concentrates at farm level is labour intensive
Fodder/Forage Planting and Use
• Difficulties in finding adaptable productive varieties
• Low market development for forages

COMMERCIALIZATION ASPECTS OF THE
THREE DAIRY TECHNOLOGIES
Genotype-based: Keeping improved/high grade cattle for production
• Production and Multiplication of crossbred cows and service bulls, and
associated Artificial Insemination services. Private sector involvement
emerging
• Improved cattle induced increased milk production creating collection,
storage, processing, transportation and marketing services
Concentrate feeding Technology
• Small scale, medium and large scale feed manufacturers
• Bulk transporters
• Ingredients and other input suppliers (producers/importers)

COMMERCIALIZATION ASPECTS OF THE
THREE DAIRY TECHNOLOGIES
Cultivating Fodder/Forage Technology
 Farm Producers
 Road side harvesters
 Packers/Bailers
 Traders/ Marketers
 Transporters

DAIRY VALUE CHAINS IN EASTERN AFRICA:
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT
Pursue joint regional investment promotion strategies to expand regional
capabilities in manufacturing of exportable dairy products.
• Improve relationships between processing plants and farmers, to
encourage more farmers to sell to plants.
• Train and license milk collectors to improve quality of milk supplied to
processors.
• Improve collaboration between public and private stakeholders, and
relationships between these and the international development
programmes.
• Prioritise facilitating regional trade and exports from the region, given the
binding constraint of weak domestic ability to pay for higher-value products.

Thank You

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