Tropentag, October 6 - 8, 2009 in Hamburg "Biophysical and Socio-economic Frame Conditions for the Sustainable Management of Natural Resources"

Participatory Assessment of Institutional and Organisational Challenges Confronting Dairy Goat Management in Kenya

¹Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Institute of Animal Sciences, Germany
²Egerton University, Department of Animal Sciences, Kenya

Abstract

Institutional Analysis and Development Framework (IAD) is applied in the investigation of a range of actors, organisations and drivers influencing dairy goat management in Kenya. Information was elicited using participatory appraisal exercises. Venn diagrams and focus group discussions were used to map out key institutions and organisations, assessing their importance and links with the economic development of dairy goat producing households (and with each other). Different stakeholder groups in the public (e.g. government ministries and research organisations), participatory (e.g. farmers, farmers organisations, Kenya Stud Book-KSB and development agencies) and private (e.g. financial organisations) sectors were identified and their relative rankings quantified for the three projects Dairy Goat Association of Kenya (DGAK), Higher Education Links-Egerton University Community Dairy Goats Project (HEL-EUCDGP) and Heifer project International (HPI), each represented by the regions Nyeri, Nakuru and Bomet districts, respectively. The private sector was the least represented with only one stakeholder (i.e. the banks) while majority of the stakeholders in the participatory sector were ranked higher and had a strong affiliation with the economic development of dairy goat keepers. Non-farmer group households were ranked first by participants in all the three regions followed by the farmer groups. Research organisations, banks and KSB had the lowest ranks in most locations. Non-farmer group households, farmer groups and breeders associations had the strongest influence and inter-linkages on the dairy goat sector. They also occupied key positions in the Venn diagrams, implying that a strong affiliation exists between these stakeholders and the economic development of dairy goat keepers. The diagrams also revealed weak and distant inter-linkages with the ministry of livestock, development agencies and the KSB. Research organisations were considered weak and distant to goat breeders and separated from the institutional network and had virtually no relationships with other stakeholder groups. Collective action by farmers can be argued as the preferred organisational option, but it has to be institutionalised, supported technically and policy-wise, and networked with key stakeholders while clearly defining their respective roles.

Keywords: Dairy goat projects, institutions and organisations, participatory appraisal, stakeholders

Contact Address: Rawlynce Bett, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Institute of Animal Sciences, Philippstr. 13, 10115 Berlin, Germany, e-mail: rawlynceyahoo.com