Volume 8, Issue 1, September 2014, Pages 225–231
James Mukuna Gikaba1, Kamuru Susan Muthoni2, and Bockline Omedo Bebe3
1 Department of Applied Community Development Studies, Egerton University, P.O Box 536-20115, Egerton, Kenya
2 Department of Applied Community Development Studies, Egerton University, P.O Box 536-20115, Egerton, Kenya
3 Department of Animal Sciences, Egerton University, P.O Box 536-20115, Egerton, Kenya
Original language: English
Copyright © 2014 ISSR Journals. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Droughts manifested in the changes in frequency, duration and changes in rainfall patterns directly impact on livestock assets of pastoral households of which Maasai community in Kajiado County of Kenya exemplifies. The community is seasonally exposed to drought effects and has adjusted their livestock feeding practices to cope but knowledge gaps exists as to whether the adjusted feeding practices adequately aligns to the magnitude of change experienced, This study established the influence of drought duration on livestock feeding practices from sample of 136 households, selected using simple random sampling procedure. A large majority of the sampled households had noticed changes in the frequency of droughts (98.5 %), increased drought duration (97.8%), unpredictable onset and patterns of rains (99.3%) and longer droughts lasting 7 to 12 months on average. Despite noticing increased trends of changing and variable climate, a large majority of the sample households (87.5%) continues with traditional herd mobility in coping with drought effects and limited uptake of supplementary feeding, demonstrating non uptake of planned adaptation strategies, which poses threats to livestock assets of pastoral community. Urgent interventions is therefore advised for the Maasai community to include introduction and promotion of harvesting and storing natural hay for drought feeding, use of drought tolerant livestock breeds, targeted livestock off-take to reduce economic losses and construction of watering facilities in the area and regular desilting of existing water pans to ensure adequate water harvesting during the rains for watering livestock during drought periods.
Author Keywords: Drought feeding, Climate variability, Herd mobility, Maasai community.
James Mukuna Gikaba1, Kamuru Susan Muthoni2, and Bockline Omedo Bebe3
1 Department of Applied Community Development Studies, Egerton University, P.O Box 536-20115, Egerton, Kenya
2 Department of Applied Community Development Studies, Egerton University, P.O Box 536-20115, Egerton, Kenya
3 Department of Animal Sciences, Egerton University, P.O Box 536-20115, Egerton, Kenya
Original language: English
Copyright © 2014 ISSR Journals. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
Droughts manifested in the changes in frequency, duration and changes in rainfall patterns directly impact on livestock assets of pastoral households of which Maasai community in Kajiado County of Kenya exemplifies. The community is seasonally exposed to drought effects and has adjusted their livestock feeding practices to cope but knowledge gaps exists as to whether the adjusted feeding practices adequately aligns to the magnitude of change experienced, This study established the influence of drought duration on livestock feeding practices from sample of 136 households, selected using simple random sampling procedure. A large majority of the sampled households had noticed changes in the frequency of droughts (98.5 %), increased drought duration (97.8%), unpredictable onset and patterns of rains (99.3%) and longer droughts lasting 7 to 12 months on average. Despite noticing increased trends of changing and variable climate, a large majority of the sample households (87.5%) continues with traditional herd mobility in coping with drought effects and limited uptake of supplementary feeding, demonstrating non uptake of planned adaptation strategies, which poses threats to livestock assets of pastoral community. Urgent interventions is therefore advised for the Maasai community to include introduction and promotion of harvesting and storing natural hay for drought feeding, use of drought tolerant livestock breeds, targeted livestock off-take to reduce economic losses and construction of watering facilities in the area and regular desilting of existing water pans to ensure adequate water harvesting during the rains for watering livestock during drought periods.
Author Keywords: Drought feeding, Climate variability, Herd mobility, Maasai community.
How to Cite this Article
James Mukuna Gikaba, Kamuru Susan Muthoni, and Bockline Omedo Bebe, “Influence of Drought Duration on Livestock Feeding Practices by Maasai Pastoralists in Kajiado County, Kenya,” International Journal of Innovation and Applied Studies, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 225–231, September 2014.
