{"id":22452,"date":"2026-01-14T08:25:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T08:25:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/22452\/"},"modified":"2026-01-14T08:25:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T08:25:13","slug":"kenya-faces-33-million-tonne-feed-deficits-as-counties-push-for-climate-smart-forage-solutions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/22452\/","title":{"rendered":"Kenya faces 33 million tonne feed deficits as counties push for climate-smart forage solutions"},"content":{"rendered":"

The
\nAlliance senior research assistant,\u00a0Ruth Odhiambo,\u00a0demonstrates to farmers from Kisumu and Vihiga counties how a\u00a0multipurpose feed chopper is used for forage
\nprocessing.\/AGATHA NGOTHO<\/p>\n

When rains fail, dairy farmer Millicent Atieno from Kisumu
\nsaid her cows are the first to feel it.<\/p>\n

\u201cMilk drops immediately. You start buying commercial feed,
\nbut it\u2019s expensive, and sometimes the quality is poor. You can\u2019t make a profit,\u201d
\nshe said.<\/p>\n

In neighbouring Vihiga, Ernest Omondi said the dry season is his worst nightmare. <\/p>\n

\u201cWithout fodder, you are just praying. I want to learn
\nhow to grow and store feed, so we don\u2019t suffer every year,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Livestock farmers continue to grapple with chronic seasonal
\nfodder shortages. Erratic rainfall, competition for land between forage and
\nfood crops, and loss of natural grazing areas have made feed scarcity a
\npersistent production constraint.<\/p>\n

Many farmers lack access to improved forage varieties,
\nconservation skills and machinery for processing feed, often pushing them to
\nrely on low-quality fodder or costly commercial concentrates that erode
\nprofits.<\/p>\n

To address this, the Alliance of Bioversity International
\nand CIAT (The Alliance), through the Biodiversity for Resilient Ecosystems in
\nAgricultural Landscapes (B-Real) project, is working to promote climate-smart
\ndairy systems, improved forage production, and more resilient food systems.<\/p>\n

During a recent field day in Western Kenya, farmers from
\nKisumu and Vihiga engaged with scientists, county officials, seed companies and development partners to test, observe and compare a wide range of fodder
\nvarieties\u2014grasses and legumes\u2014that are adapted to the region\u2019s conditions. \n<\/p>\n

The demonstrations showed how improved forages can boost biomass production and
\nfeed quality while supporting higher milk yields.<\/p>\n

The scale of the feed gap remains alarming. According to the
\nMinistry of Agriculture, Kenya faces an annual deficit of 33 million tonnes of livestock feed, one of the sector\u2019s biggest constraints.<\/p>\n

Livestock
\nPS Jonathan Mueke said the country requires 55 million tonnes
\nannually, yet only about 40 per cent is being met. Of the 22 million tonnes
\nproduced, 46.3 per cent is lost post-harvest due to poor storage.<\/p>\n

To close the gap, he said the government is
\ninvesting in feed production and plans to establish feed storage hubs in every
\ncounty to reduce spoilage.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the last two years, we have invested more than Sh55
\nbillion to support enhanced local feed production to meet demand and cut
\nimports,\u201d the PS said. He said the investments also aim to strengthen
\nresilience against drought, climate variability and global shocks such as the
\nUkraine-Russia conflict.<\/p>\n

During the field day, farmers rotated through hands-on
\ndemonstrations on harvesting fodder at the right stage and making high-quality
\nsilage and hay, critical practices for ensuring feed availability during the
\ndry season. <\/p>\n

Machinery such as choppers and balers was showcased to illustrate
\nhow mechanisation reduces labour burdens, lowers losses and improves the
\nconsistency of conserved feed.<\/p>\n

Three farmer groups\u2014Agoro East and Jimo East in Kisumu, and
\nLyana Ginga in Vihiga\u2014received multipurpose feed choppers to kickstart forage
\nprocessing within their communities.<\/p>\n

For some farmers, the exposure shaped clear priorities.<\/p>\n

\u201cI
\nhave decided to grow the varieties that boost milk production and then conserve
\nfodder during the rainy seasons for the dry periods,\u201d a participant said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis platform allows farmers to see, touch and compare
\ndifferent forage options,\u201d senior research assistant at The
\nAlliance Ruth Odhiambo said. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt helps demystify fodder technologies and builds confidence in
\nadopting practices that can improve livestock productivity. Silage and hay
\nmaking are powerful tools for climate resilience,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

County governments see economic potential beyond production.
\nVihiga County director for agriculture, livestock and fisheries Reuben Chumba pointed to growing opportunities for youth along the forage value chain from
\ndigital marketing and transport to value addition and organic input supply.<\/p>\n

He said last year, Vihiga county launched an agroecology policy with support from The Alliance and other partners.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe policy promotes
\nsustainable fodder production through circular economy approaches, intensive
\nagriculture and improved breeding. This will not only enhance a sustainable
\nlivestock sector but also build community resilience,\u201d Chumba noted.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Alliance senior research assistant,\u00a0Ruth Odhiambo,\u00a0demonstrates to farmers from Kisumu and Vihiga counties how a\u00a0multipurpose feed chopper is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":22453,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[1140,13879,13878,80,13750,13877,13880,100,101,7996],"class_list":{"0":"post-22452","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-kenya","8":"tag-agriculture","9":"tag-alliance-of-bioversity-international","10":"tag-fisheries","11":"tag-kenya","12":"tag-kisumu","13":"tag-livestock","14":"tag-millicent-atieno","15":"tag-star-news-kenya","16":"tag-the-star","17":"tag-vihiga"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22452","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22452"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22452\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22452"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22452"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}