Last week during the Easter holiday, I visited friends and family in western Kenya. We passed through Nakuru, Londiani, Muhoroni, Kisumu and Luanda terminating the journey in Siaya town.
During the trip, I took stock of the type of cattle I saw on the way and at my destination.
I have travelled that route for many years for work, leisure and social activities. My conclusion is that the cattle breed pattern has remained very stable over the time in the different areas.
The high grade dairy cattle mainly Friesian, Ayrshires, Jerseys, Guernseys and their crosses and mixes were evident from Kiambu to around Fort Tenan on the Londiani-Muhoroni Road. Beyond that point, the number of sightings for the small East African Zebu with the very occasional dairy mix was common.
By the time I arrived in Kisumu, the sighting was predominantly the Zebus. Interestingly, the sighting just past Muhoroni changed very drastically to Zebu and continued up to around Maseno, where again mixes and close to pure dairy breeds reappeared.
The sighting again changed after Luanda and became predominantly Zebu as we got closer to Siaya town. I have always found this observation quite interesting considering that livestock upgrading to pure dairy and beef cattle started even before independence.
This time around, I engaged some of the residents of Siaya on why they had stuck to the Zebu, also called the traditional breed. Most of the reasons and explanations I got were both varied and valid.
One lady told me she had tried to keep Friesians but they consumed too much feed and were prone to diseases very common in the area. They included East Coast Fever (ECF) and red water.
The cattle would also get udder infection or mastitis and stop milking altogether. She had never seen mastitis in the traditional cattle. She, therefore, reverted to the Zebus.
Sometimes the area was too dry and he could not figure out how to feed a dairy breed. Further, he had heard that dairy breeds require a lot of water yet that was a challenge in his area, especially during the dry season.
There is one farmer who told me that he had heard dairy cattle could not survive in the heat and humidity of Siaya. He liked Friesians but he could not risk taking them there to die. I advised him the environmental temperatures and humidity of the area were okay for all breeds of cattle.
However, if he decided to bring in the Friesian, he would need to plan in advance how to provide sufficient water and feed.
He would also need to know where to get prompt and quality animal health services. In addition, he would need to understand the main diseases in his area that could affect his cattle and how to control them.
One farmer asked me why the traditional breed did not get affected by the diseases in the area while high grade breeds even died. I explained the scientific phenomenon called enzootic diseases. These are diseases that are present in an area at all times.
Animal breeds resident in the area for many years get infected by the organisms that cause the diseases. Some animals die but others develop immunity or resistance to the infections.
Over time, the resistant ones pass on the protection to their offspring and majority of the animals are able to live with the diseases without getting sick or only with mild infections that heal without treatment.
This natural method of disease control is not suitable for commercial production because it is wasteful through animal deaths and it also takes a very long time to establish immune or resistant animals.
Instead, we use the knowledge of immunity in production of vaccines that are injected into the animals to invoke development of immunity.
Another farmer said she really wanted to improve her animals but she did not know which could be the best breeds for the area. I gathered the main reason for keeping cattle in the area was milk, meat, manure, income and social standing. These are all beneficial expectations at the individual, family and community level.
Looking at the area from Muhoroni to Siaya, save for Maseno and Luanda, the environment is rather hostile for high grade dairy breeds. Until water availability is adequately addressed, it would be difficult for high grade dairy cattle to be economical for keeping by small-scale farmers.
It is always advisable to keep cattle breeds well-suited to the environment of an area. I advised the farmers to consider upgrading their Zebus with the Sahiwal duo-purpose breed or the Boran beef breed.
Their best option would be to seek artificial insemination (AI) rather than buying live animals. At least the calves born from AI would have a high degree of immunity and resistance acquired from the mother.
Sahiwal and Boran cope well with hot dry areas. They give more milk, meat and manure than the Zebus and require less water than the high grade dairy breeds. They also utilise dry forage better than the high grade breeds.
