Dairy Development and Nutrition in Kilifi District
Kenya Coast Portal
Section:
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Number of pages:
135
Year of publication:
1991
Print title:
Leegwater P., Ngolo J. & Hoorweg J. (1991). Dairy Development and Nutrition in Kilifi District, Kenya. (Food and Nutrition Studies Programme, Report No. 35). Nairobi/Leiden: Ministry of Planning and National Development/African Studies Centre.
For reference purposes, cite the following link:
https://www.ascleiden.nl/kenya-coast/brd/leegwater-ngolo/dairy-development-and-nutrition
Summary/abstract:
The objectives of this study on dairy development in Kilifi District are to assess:
= The importance of intensive dairy farming promoted by the National Dairy Development Programme (DDP) compared with other types of small-scale dairy farming;
= The importance of intensive dairy farming for the household economy and nutrition of the smallholder households concerned; and
= The importance of this economic activity for the nutrition of the local community.
Five groups of households were designated: DDP-farmers, independent dairy farmers (neighbours of DDP-farmers keeping cattle), livestock farmers (traditional farmers in the drier part of the province), DDP-customers (rural households regularly buying milk from DDP-farmers), and a comparison group drawn from the general population of farming households. Field surveys took place from May till July 1987. The data cover household characteristics, dairy farming and production, milk sales, household food consumption, milk consumption and nutritional status of preschool children.
Results show that DDP-farmers have large households compared with the general population. Also, the farm size among this group is larger and average household income is higher, in comparison. Nearly all DDP-farmers belong to the group of (relatively) wealthy and middle-class households. This is not so much because of dairy income but also because of a high income from off-farm employment. Home consumption of milk in the district is low, on average, between 1.0 and 2.0 litres/day. At the DDP-farms about 17% of the milk production is used for home consumption; in the two other groups this is about a third. The local milk clients of DDP-farmers consist primarily of households of wage earners. On average they buy about one litre of milk per day. The nutritional status of pre-school children in DDP-households and among the DDP customers is better than among children from the general population.