Opportunity cost of adopting improved planted forage: Evidence from the adoption of Brachiaria grass among smallholder dairy farmers in Kenya
Current global trends in population growth, urbanisation and a growing middle-class economy have resulted in increased demand for livestock and products, and more so dairy products. This necessitates the need for livestock producers to respond to the growing demand. However, farmers’ efforts are agg...
| Autores principales: | , , , |
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| Formato: | Journal Article |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés |
| Publicado: |
African Association of Agricultural Economists
2022
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| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/120057 |
| _version_ | 1855520556916408320 |
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| author | Maina, Kevin W. Ritho, C.N. Lukuyu, Ben A. Rao, E.J.O. |
| author_browse | Lukuyu, Ben A. Maina, Kevin W. Rao, E.J.O. Ritho, C.N. |
| author_facet | Maina, Kevin W. Ritho, C.N. Lukuyu, Ben A. Rao, E.J.O. |
| author_sort | Maina, Kevin W. |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | Current global trends in population growth, urbanisation and a growing middle-class economy have resulted in increased demand for livestock and products, and more so dairy products. This necessitates the need for livestock producers to respond to the growing demand. However, farmers’ efforts are aggravated by the effects of climate change. The need arises for a sustainable source of fodder to alleviate the situation, while at the same time offering farmers other opportunities to participate in fodder markets through the adoption of climate-smart Brachiaria grass. In this article, the opportunity cost of producing Brachiaria in favour of Napier grass is estimated using household survey data obtained from dairy farmers in Kenya’s drier agroecological zones. The study utilised full-information endogenous switching regression to compute the opportunity cost by comparing the gross margins generated from Napier and Brachiaria grass. The findings reveal that dairy farmers face a higher opportunity cost of their fodder land by producing Napier in favour of Brachiaria, given by the transitional heterogeneity of USD 79.74. Furthermore, the adoption of Brachiaria is determined by the age and experience of farmers in fodder production, by herd size, breed type, perception of milk productivity, group membership, and access to extension services. The results highlight the need for widespread adoption through extension and technical support to farmers. This would also enable farmers to participate in fodder markets and support their livelihood. |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | CGSpace120057 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2022 |
| publishDateRange | 2022 |
| publishDateSort | 2022 |
| publisher | African Association of Agricultural Economists |
| publisherStr | African Association of Agricultural Economists |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace1200572025-02-19T13:42:10Z Opportunity cost of adopting improved planted forage: Evidence from the adoption of Brachiaria grass among smallholder dairy farmers in Kenya Maina, Kevin W. Ritho, C.N. Lukuyu, Ben A. Rao, E.J.O. brachiaria fodder technology Current global trends in population growth, urbanisation and a growing middle-class economy have resulted in increased demand for livestock and products, and more so dairy products. This necessitates the need for livestock producers to respond to the growing demand. However, farmers’ efforts are aggravated by the effects of climate change. The need arises for a sustainable source of fodder to alleviate the situation, while at the same time offering farmers other opportunities to participate in fodder markets through the adoption of climate-smart Brachiaria grass. In this article, the opportunity cost of producing Brachiaria in favour of Napier grass is estimated using household survey data obtained from dairy farmers in Kenya’s drier agroecological zones. The study utilised full-information endogenous switching regression to compute the opportunity cost by comparing the gross margins generated from Napier and Brachiaria grass. The findings reveal that dairy farmers face a higher opportunity cost of their fodder land by producing Napier in favour of Brachiaria, given by the transitional heterogeneity of USD 79.74. Furthermore, the adoption of Brachiaria is determined by the age and experience of farmers in fodder production, by herd size, breed type, perception of milk productivity, group membership, and access to extension services. The results highlight the need for widespread adoption through extension and technical support to farmers. This would also enable farmers to participate in fodder markets and support their livelihood. 2022-03-31 2022-07-06T15:16:37Z 2022-07-06T15:16:37Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/120057 en Open Access African Association of Agricultural Economists Maina, K.W., Ritho, C.N., Lukuyu, B.A. and Rao, E.J.O. 2022. Opportunity cost of adopting improved planted forage: Evidence from the adoption of Brachiaria grass among smallholder dairy farmers in Kenya. African Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics 17(1):48–63. |
| spellingShingle | brachiaria fodder technology Maina, Kevin W. Ritho, C.N. Lukuyu, Ben A. Rao, E.J.O. Opportunity cost of adopting improved planted forage: Evidence from the adoption of Brachiaria grass among smallholder dairy farmers in Kenya |
| title | Opportunity cost of adopting improved planted forage: Evidence from the adoption of Brachiaria grass among smallholder dairy farmers in Kenya |
| title_full | Opportunity cost of adopting improved planted forage: Evidence from the adoption of Brachiaria grass among smallholder dairy farmers in Kenya |
| title_fullStr | Opportunity cost of adopting improved planted forage: Evidence from the adoption of Brachiaria grass among smallholder dairy farmers in Kenya |
| title_full_unstemmed | Opportunity cost of adopting improved planted forage: Evidence from the adoption of Brachiaria grass among smallholder dairy farmers in Kenya |
| title_short | Opportunity cost of adopting improved planted forage: Evidence from the adoption of Brachiaria grass among smallholder dairy farmers in Kenya |
| title_sort | opportunity cost of adopting improved planted forage evidence from the adoption of brachiaria grass among smallholder dairy farmers in kenya |
| topic | brachiaria fodder technology |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/120057 |
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