Brachiaria Grass for Climate Resilient and Sustainable Livestock Production in Kenya

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dc.creatorNjarui, D. M. G.
dc.creatorGatheru, M.
dc.creatorGhimire, S. R.
dc.date2021
dc.date2024-09-11T09:26:02Z
dc.date2024-09-11T09:26:02Z
dc.date.accessioned2026-06-27T16:50:58Z
dc.descriptionBrachiaria grass is a “climate smart” forage that produces high amount of palatable and nutritious biomass for livestock and performs well in infertile soils, sequesters carbon in soil, and provides several environmental benefits. The objective of the study was to validate the productivity of Brachiaria grass and upscale the suitable cultivars for improved livestock feed resources in Kenya. We assume integrating Brachiaria grass into mixed crop-livestock system will enhance feed availability and livestock productivity, leading to increased food and nutrition security. Farmer participatory approach was adopted to evaluate and promote four Brachiaria grass (Brachiaria decumbens cv. Basilisk, B. brizantha cvs. Xaraes, Piata, and MG-4) in the Central Highland and Eastern Midland of Kenya. The extension/advisory approaches used to promote Brachiaria grass cultivars included field days, village knowledge centres, agricultural shows, posters, and linkages with other institutions through multi-actor platform established under the InnovAfrica project. Generally, Brachiaria grass cultivars were more productive than the control (Rhodes grass) in most harvests reaching peak of 5.1–7.7 t/ha in the fifth harvest. For Rhodes grass, DM was less than 4 t/ha in all harvest and died by sixth harvest. Similarly, based on farmers’ evaluation using phenotypic traits, the Brachiaria grass cultivars had higher score than Rhodes grass except cv. Piata. The mean score ranged from 2.75 to 3.19 for Brachiaria cultivars, while for Rhodes the mean score was 2.63. Within 2 years of intervention, over 4000 farmers in the 2 project sites and additional 1500 farmers from other parts of the country have planted the Brachiaria grass. The demand for Brachiaria grass seeds is increasing due to benefits gained, e.g., increased milk production from dairy cattle fed on the grass. Our study will quantify the associated benefits from cultivation of Brachiaria grass with respect to a set of ecological, food and nutrition security, and social-economic indicators.
dc.identifierhttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/152145
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/123456789/134982
dc.languageen
dc.publisherSpringer
dc.rightsOpen Access
dc.sourceNjarui, D. M. G., Gatheru, M., & Ghimire, S. R. (2021). Brachiaria Grass for Climate Resilient and Sustainable Livestock Production in Kenya. African Handbook of Climate Change Adaptation, 755–776. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-45106-6_146
dc.subjectlivestock
dc.subjectnutrition
dc.subjectfarmers
dc.subjectclimate
dc.subjectcattle
dc.subjectproductivity
dc.subjectevaluation
dc.subjectproduction
dc.subjectindicators
dc.subjectforage
dc.subjectfood
dc.subjectsoil
dc.subjectseeds
dc.subjectinstitutions
dc.subjectbrachiaria
dc.subjectmilk production
dc.subjectcultivars
dc.subjectcultivation
dc.subjectmilk
dc.subjectbiomass
dc.subjectnutrition security
dc.subjectlivestock production
dc.subjectbrachiaria decumbens
dc.subjectresources
dc.subjectdemand
dc.subjectknowledge
dc.subjectextension
dc.subjectdairy cattle
dc.subjectsystem
dc.subjectfeed resources
dc.subjecteconomic indicators
dc.subjectsoils
dc.subjectdairy
dc.subjectintervention
dc.subjectlivestock feed
dc.subjectparticipatory
dc.subjectharvest
dc.subjectbenefits
dc.subjectcrop-livestock
dc.subjectfeed
dc.subjectphenotypic
dc.subjecttraits
dc.subjectfarmer
dc.titleBrachiaria Grass for Climate Resilient and Sustainable Livestock Production in Kenya
dc.typeBook Chapter

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Instituto Internacional de Investigaciones Pecuarias (ILRI)