Dairy and livestock farming : Kwale County

19/02/2022

17/01/2022

Any information about how these animals are doing in terms of health, productivity and County Government support?

https://www.kenyanews.go.ke/kwale-county-donates-high-breed-cattle-to-farmers/

29/12/2021

It's generally morally acceptable for the humans to utilize animals for live support causes like food production, work, entertainment, for body and foot wear and scientific endeavors as long as through all these activities the animal does not undergo suffering. This is as per the utilitarianism belief.
When livestock are well taken care of, their productivity increases. It's also been proved through various studies that livestock raised under inadequate conditions end up giving substandard food output that may affect the wellbeing of humans. Such animal product may have subnormal nutritional values and questionable edible quality due to physiological reactions that result from exposure of animals to extreme stress. Therefore the wellbeing of livestock has crucial influence on the final food quality and productivity.
NB; The quality of milk from cows raised on pasture contains high content of omega 3 and 6 fatty acids, high Vitamin E and beta- carotene.

28/12/2021

Animal welfare and livestock production: Why are they intertwined ?

The state of an animal in relation to its environment is termed as 'welfare'. Poor welfare may or may not lead to suffering. Poor welfare may impact the life of the animal in a number of ways:

Reduced life expectancy
Impaired growth
Impaired production
Body damage - Immunosuppression
- Diseases
- poor adrenal activity
- abnormal behavior

The enhancement of animal welfare has emerged as a crucial aspect of livestock production systems and animal based food supply chains particularly in the western world.
World over livestock production has been extensively undertaken in order to cater for the ever increasing global food supply. This in turn leads to livestock - dairy cows, poultry, pigs or beef cows being reared in relatively minimal holding grounds.
Due to high demand for milk and profit maximization breeding protocols are placing a lot of focus on production traits at the expense of other traits that are needed for the physical and wellbeing of the livestock - high milk producer dairy cows with large pendulous udders that are prone to mastitis.

In a nutshell, animal welfare ensures livestock are not mistreated or put through unnecessary pain or discomfort. Good and bad experiences within an animal's environment are only acceptable to the extend that the animal is able to cope. However any physical or mental anguish exceeding the animals ability to withstand should be as much as possible be minimized.

There are five animal freedoms:

Freedom from hunger and thirst
Freedom from discomfort
Freedom from pain, injury or disease
Freedom to express natural behavior
Freedom from fear and distress

Next: Why is animal welfare important in livestock production systems?

27/12/2021

The agricultural sector is comprised of crops, livestock, fisheries and agroforestry which in the Kenyan perspective plays a pivotal role in driving socioeconomic empowerment with a realistic potential for transformation. This sector accounts for over 50% of Kenya's GDP.
In the year 2012, a report by the International Institute for Environment and Development IIED, in majority of the Miji Kenda households found that small businesses, crop farming and unskilled employment in nearby urban centers were the main economic activities for these communities. However it was also noted that due to climate change, crop farming as an economic activity has been declining since the year 2003.
There are reports of army worms invading crop farms and destroying maize at the cob formation stage destroying many maize plantations. This has a major negative impact on crop harvested in terms of quality and quantity.
The poor unstable rainfall pattern impacts negatively on dairy farming too due to poor water and pasture availability. Livestock diseases such as tick and insect borne are rampant and cause debilitation and low output or even death to livestock.
The livestock sub- sector is economically viable to both urban and rural inhabitants and contributes to about 12% of the total agricultural GDP in Kenya. In Kwale county the livestock sector is ranked 2nd to crop production in economic terms. Majority of households still keep indigenous cows and less than 15% own the exotic breeds or their crosses.
The the Tsetse fly borne disease, Trypanosomiasis has the most significant impact on livestock production in Kwale county. Therefore the Kwale county administration should adopt current scientifically proven measures of managing and controlling insect borne livestock diseases, increase Veterinary professional contact level with livestock farmers to enhance knowledge empowerment and train farmers on climate change mitigation strategies to reduce the impact of weather pattern variations.

Dr. Ali Sudi Tsanuo
Veterinary Surgeon