Dairy goat farming, support services and market access on household food security among smallholder farmers in kirinyaga county, kenya

Abstract

In the central highlands of Kenya, dairy goat farming is highly practiced for milk production to promote food security, and as an income-generating enterprise. In addition, several support services are in place to promote improved productivity and marketing of dairy goats and their products. However, farmers continue to face challenges relating to market access and dairy goat management. Besides, the Food Consumption Scores are low and information on dietary diversity at the household level among smallholder farmers is scanty. Similarly, information on the effect of support services on dairy goat production and effect that market access has on household dietary diversity is insufficient. This study was thus, conducted to contribute to the existing literature by analysing dairy goat farming effect on household food security of smallholder farmers, determining the influence that support services for dairy goat farming have on production, and identifying how access to market for goat milk affects household food security of the smallholder farmers. Multi-stage sampling technique was used to sample 385 households in Kirinyaga East Sub-county. Structured questionnaires were used to collect data on household demographics, market access, support services, food security, and milk production. Household Dietary Diversity Scores (HDDS) was applied as a measure food security and Propensity to Score Matching was used to determine the effect of dairy goat farming on household dietary diversity of smallholder farmer. Results revealed that vegetables, cereals, beverages, fats and oils were consumed more compared to meat, fish and eggs. The Average Treatment Effect on the Treated (ATT) showed that dairy goat farmers had higher HDDS by 1.014, an implication of diversified diets. The results of the Cobb-Douglas production function revealed that group membership and extension services increased the litres of milk produced by 0.495 units and 0.646 units respectively. In the contrary, breeding services decreased litres of milk produced by 0.612 units. The Binary Logistic regression results showed that distance to the nearest market and milk marketing channel were the market indicators related to HDDS. The results suggest that dairy goat farming should be encouraged and improved among smallholder farmers in an effort to minimize malnutrition. More extension officers should be trained and deployed to assist farmers in breeding and other dairy goat management practices to promote increased milk production. Additionally, closer formal markets for goat milk should be established to reduce the negative influence that long distances have on household food security.