Assessment of Smallholder Urban and Peri-Urban Dairy Production with Zero-Grazing Practices in Kampala, Uganda

Abstract

Many people in Kampala, the capital city of Uganda, own a few dairy cows to provide milk and income for their family. Most of these dairy farmers feed their cows with a system called zero-grazing, where the cows are confined and feed is carried to the cows. This research project evaluated the smallholder dairy system in urban and peri-urban Kampala, Uganda. Several research studies have previously been conducted on specific parts of smallholder, non-grazing dairy farms in Africa. However, this project was unique in the fact that it focused on the urban, smallholder dairy farming system as a whole. The main objectives of this research project were to 1) collect information from 10 urban and peri-urban dairy farmers that could be used to better understand their production systems and 2) identify how farms might be improved to benefit the farmers and their families. Ten farms that use zero-grazing practices to were surveyed. Each survey included five parts: Feed analysis, cow evaluation, milk yields, milk marketing, and miscellaneous. It was found that many of the farmers struggle with the same challenges, which include feed scarcity, herdsmen, vet, and inseminator unreliability, and lack of capital. The dairy cows in Kampala are not getting enough feed, which results in low milk production levels and reduced fertility. Each family interviewed recognized the nutritional importance of the milk they collected and consumed. Where there is lack of good dairy herd management knowledge, education can help. However, the bigger problem for these smallholder farmers is the lack of support and capital to put into practice beneficial management procedures for their cows. This project provided much needed holistic information on the smallholder, urban dairy system in Kampala and showed the small amount of education and empowerment needed to make these farmers more productive and resilient.