Kenya: Farmers Milk their Way to the Markets, thanks to Fodder Shrubs

By Lilian Museka

GITHUNGURI----As we arrive at the homestead of Mary Wanjiru in Githunguri, Kiambu County I notice the surrounding is made of green vegetation. At the entrance, there are four wooden structures, three on the left and one on the farthest end of her house, which she uses to keep her animals.

Dressed in jungle green and a matching headscarf, Wanjiru gladly welcomes us in an open room next to her house, which she uses to train other famers or take visitors through the process of planting fodder shrubs.

The farmer, in her early fifties tells us that she started using the fodder shrubs to feed her animals four years ago and has seen great improvement in milk production as compared to the commercial dairy meals she was using.

“I used to produce 24 litres of milk per day from my three cows when using dairy meals but since I started using fodder shrubs, I produce up to 45 litres a day,” says Wanjiru happily.

Fodder shrubs are a kind of animal feeds, rich in protein with high contents of butter that increase milk quality and quantity. Farmers around the country are being encouraged to plant the shrubs to save on the costs of buying animal feeds and increase on milk production, among other benefits.

Once mature, fodder shrubs can be harvested throughout the year, providing fodder even during dry seasons.

Accompanied by her husband Mr. George Njoroge and son Stanley Njoroge, who are also famers, she takes us through the process of planting fodder shrubs.

A nursery is made for the seedlings and cuttings, which are then planted at the onset of rains in rows at spacing of about 0.5 metres to form a hedge, applying manure. These can be planted along the farm boundaries to leave more space for the crops, along soil conservation terrace to stabilize the soil on the terraces or even around homesteads to act as a fence.

Once they mature (at a height of at least 1 metre ), the shrubs can be harvested after every 8 to 12 weeks in a year.  Once harvested, each cow is fed on 6kgs fresh fodder per day for maximum production of atleast 24 litres a day compared to animals fed on dairy meal which produce 15 litres a day.

Wanjiru adds that fodder shrubs of both local and exotic species like calliandra, trichandra, mulberry and tree lucern increase milk yields to the maximum.

The famer says she has greatly benefitted from the fodder shrubs as she has been able increase on her milk production, most of which she sells at the local market. She also sells the seedlings from the same trees to her fellow farmers. She plans to transform her whole farm to fodder.

“I have seen the benefits of the fodder shrubs on my animals and that’s why I plan to plant fodder on the whole farm. Other areas currently have ginger, maize, bananas and vegetables. My husband also grows tea on part of the farm” Wanjiru who rears cattle, goats, rabbits and chicken confidently says.

Meanwhile Njoroge adds that feeding the animals on dairy meal was quite expensive as they would buy a sack of the feed for Ksh. 1800 ($22.5) that would only last for a week for each cow.

“It was too expensive for us and at one time we started exchanging the feed with milk. We would to take milk to the dairy in exchange of the feed but we had to stop since we could not afford.

Njoroge says they heard of the fodder shrubs from the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), formed an agricultural group with neighbouring farmers and in 1994, they were trained on how to grow and manage fodder trees.

The group later got seedlings from the Agricultural show ground, planted and now they are reaping the benefits.

Esther Karanja Kamau, the dissemination facilitator at ICRAF explains that the organization intervened to help farmers increase on their milk production. “Fodders shrubs also increase milk quality in terms of the butter content,” she says.

 She adds that they encourage farmers to grow fodder trees which also improve the soil fertility through their nodules. Other uses include preserving the environment as they easily intercrop with other crops, can be used as firewood, sticks to support crops like peas, prevents soil erosion and also improves the cow dung quality which can be used as manure.

The dissemination facilitator says the project has been practiced in various areas including Embu,
Murang’a and Nyeri for over 10 years.

In collaboration with the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), ICRAF has helped small scale
farmers to plant fodder trees which have in turn increased milk yields. Women have also taken the
challenge hence increasing the household income.

Despite being a woman, Wanjiru has been successful and is seen as a role model around the village.
Other farmers seek consultations from her, apart from training them on the use of fodder shrubs. “We always seek help from her every time we have a problem, “ says Grace Waithera, also a farmer.