Analysis of pastoralists' perception on challenges and opportunities for sheep and goat production in Northern Kenya.

Small ruminants' production contributes to livelihood of pastoral communities, but this faces myriad constraints. This study aimed at identifying challenges facing producers of small ruminants, prioritizing diseases and their control measures and documenting opportunities for improvement. Sixteen focus group discussions with livestock owners and 13 key informant interviews were done in selected areas in Mandera County, Northern Kenya, and both quantitative and qualitative data collected using a questionnaire guide. Occurrences of diseases (27.4%) and drought (25%) were consistently ranked high in all groups. Other production challenges included increased predation of livestock, inadequate delivery of veterinary services, and increased livestock mortalities. Peste des Petit ruminants was ranked high with a median rank of 21.5%, while contagious caprine pleuropneumonia and sheep and goat pox were ranked second and third, respectively. Other diseases included tick-borne diseases, helminthosis, and pneumonia. Vaccination was ranked as the most effective control strategy for infectious diseases. Other control measures included recitation of Quran and cauterization. However, several opportunities exist for support of small ruminants' production: increased budgetary allocation for disease control by government, initiation of projects that enhance livestock production in the region by government and its development partners. These findings are useful for policy makers for disease control and organizations that are working on projects that focuses on enhancement of pastoralists' resilience, while future research could also identify appropriate technologies that reduces these impacts.

A description of local pig feeding systems in village smallholder farms of Western Kenya.

We used face-to-face interviews to gather data on pig feeding practices in rural Busia District, Kenya. We visited 164 pig farms three times in the course of the study period. The pigs were weighed in kilograms during the visits. Feeds offered to pigs were described during the interviews. The most frequently fed feedstuffs were; ground maize or "ugali" (88%), kitchen leftovers (83%) and dried fish locally called "omena" (78%). Farmers provided pigs with water separately from the feeds. Sweet potatoes, "ugali" and cassava were available and could serve as good sources of energy for pigs in the district. Fruits and vegetables were also available and could potentially act as good sources of vitamins. Sweet potato vines, "omena" fish and slaughter blood were available and could provide pigs with proteins. The average daily gain (ADG) for pigs ≤ 5 months of age, pigs of 5.1-9.9 months of age and pigs of ≥ 10 months old was 94.5 (± 43), 127 (± 49.8) and 99 (± 92) g, respectively (p = 0.000). This study has outlined the different local pig feeds available in Busia district. We recommend two things: first, additional research on nutrient composition for the identified local feeds, and second, developing and validating simple local feed combinations that would achieve balanced local pig rations.