Due to its proclivity to droughts, Sub Saharan Africa requires lowcost forage conservation techniques. These should ideally rely on locallyavailable resources like cultivated forages and crop residues in combinationwith agro-industrial by-products. The idea is to ensure year-round feedavailability. This technology consists of developed rations containingcultivated forages, crop residues and agro-industrial by-products. Thisultimately leads to economically viable milk production and body weight gain. Forexample, in Tanzania, a feeding package was developed that involvessupplementing dairy cattle with 4.9 kg of DM concentrate per cow per day plus4.60 kg DM day-1 of Panicum maximumhay.

Assessment/reflection on utilization, dissemination & scalingout or up approaches used

The main target group of the technology is the small-scale dairyfarmers. On-farm trials were used to pilot the technology. The technology hasundergone validation in Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda. Fifteen tonnes (15MT) ofpasture seed estimated to cover about 2500 ha have been distributed to farmersin Kenya, Sudan, Eritrea, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and Ethiopia forimprovement of livestock “cut and carry” and grazing pastures. This was doneafter farmer participatory seed production trials on farms. Also, 20 elephantgrass clones resistant to the notorious Napier stunt disease were identified inKenya and have been tested in Uganda and Tanzania.

Currentsituation and future scaling up

The technology has been disseminated amongst farmers in the targetcountries (Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Sudan, Eritrea, and Burundi) under lowinput-low-yield production systems. The main advantage of this technology isthat the main feed components comprising of grass and crop residues areconsiderably lower in cost than the predominantly imported grain fed tohigh-yielding dairy animals. Challenges hindering further dissemination of thistechnology include: limited knowledge and low technical knowhow amongsmallholder dairy farmers, unreliable supply and quality of external inputs,limited access to credits and shortage of land for production of fodder.Farmers have to choose whether to grow food crops or pasture in limited landavailable. Adoption and scaling up/out of this technology has also beenconstrained by higher prices of the concentrates and unreliable supply. Forinstance, dairy meals, molasses, cotton seedcakes and sunflower seedcakes areoften not available in areas located distantly to their production places.Recommendations for addressing some of these challenges include promoting dairynutrition awareness creation, promotion of farmers’ dairy cooperatives in orderto facilitate smooth access to information, knowledge and skills on dairy feedtechnologies and practices and putting in place clear policy for promotingadoption of improved dairy nutrition technologies.

The technology is quite affordable and can be applied even on asmall scale, considering that its main components are crop residues and fodder.Farmers benefit from using the technology within just a season, throughincreased production and sale of milk, thus contributing to better householdincomes. Using this low cost technology, the total revenue/litre, average costsof production/litre and profit/litre for smallholder farmers in Central Tanzaniahave been estimated at US$ 0.34; US$0.198; and US$ 0.145 respectively. Hiredlabor, purchased feeds and animal health, are the major cost drivers. Heavyinvestment in labor is required to gather and prepare the feeds. Also, milkspoilage is rampant and is a major contributor to revenue losses amongsmallholder dairy farmers. In order to break even, smallholder farmers have toproduce enough milk to generate enough revenue to cover their production costs.

The TIMP is gender-neutral and isintended to benefit all members of the community, including vulnerable andmarginalized groups. The TIMP particularly addresses the context and situationof women farmers, who constitute majority of small-scale dairy farmers.

Urassa, V.C;

Lead Scientist, Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA);

P.O. Box 3015;

Morogoro, Tanzania.

Email: valentinine@yahoo.com

Kimambo, A.E;

Scientist, Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA);

P.O. Box 3004;

Morogoro, Tanzania.

Tel: +255-23260461

Fax: +255-232604562

Email: kimambo@suanet.ac.tz

Laswai, G.H;

Scientist, Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA);

P.O. Box 3004;

Morogoro, Tanzania.

Tel: +255-23260461

Fax: +255-232604562

Email: laswaig1@gmail.com

Assey, R.J;

Scientist, Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA),

P.O. Box 3004,

Morogoro, Tanzania.

Tel: +255-23260461

Fax: +255-232604562

Email: deanfvm@suanet.ac.tz

Marketing opportunities for meat and milk have been enhancedthrough establishing consumer preferences in Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya andEthiopia. Also, about 278 producers and processors of milk and meat have beentrained in strategic targeting of their products towards consumer preferencefor profit optimization.

Nkenwa, D.D. 2009. Assessment of feeding practices and performanceof dairy cattle in Kibaha District, Tanzania. Dissertation for Award of MSc Degreeat Sokoine University of Agriculture, Morogoro, Tanzania, 118pp.

Nkenwa, D.D., Kimambo, A.E., Laswai, G.H., and Assey, R. 2009.Assessment of feeding practices and performance of dairy cattle in Kibahadistrict, Tanzania. Proceedings of the 33rd Scientific conference of TanzaniaSociety of Animal Production held on 22-25th September 2009 at BOT MwanzaTanzania.

Urassa, V.C., Kimambo, A.E., Laswai, G.H. and Assey, R.J. 2012.Feeding strategy for improving milk production of cross-bred cows undersmallholder-farmers in Kibaha District, Tanzania (in press).