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In this lesson we are going to discuss about the problems facing dairy farming in Kenya and Denmark

Answer Text:
Problems Facing Dairy Farming in Kenya
a) Small scale dairy farms face stiff competition from other cash crops like tea, coffee, vegetables and passion fruits, etc.
b) The cost of inputs is very high which has minimised mechanisation and resulted into to low profit margins.
c) Impassability of roads during the rainy season making milk delivery difficult.
d) Excessive droughts which result in inadequate feeds which causes temporary milk shortage.
e) Risk of cattle pests and diseases which has restricted dairy farming to Kenyan highlands.
f) Poor management of cooperatives at grassroots resulting to delayed payments which kills farmers’ morale.
g) Shortage of proper storage facilities at the collecting centres such as cooling plants causing milk to go bad before
it gets to processing factories.
h) AI services have been privatised making them very expensive and inaccessible to many small scale farmers resulting in low quality breeds
and hence low milk production.
i) Lack of training especially to small scale farmers. Improvements (How Govt Is Laying Emphasis to Dairy Farming)
b) Appointing supervisory boards for dairy co-operatives.
c) Extending credit facilities to farmers through cooperatives.
d) Holding agricultural shows to educate farmers on good dairy farm management.
e) Setting up demonstration farms which breed high quality bulls to be released to farmers.
f) Establishing well maintained roads for delivery of milk.
g) Carrying out extensive research on possible solutions to diseases.

Denmark
Rare incidents of diseases such as mastitis and Salmonella Dublin.
It’s expensive to run farms in winter when animals are kept indoors and fed on fodder.
Dairy animals emit a considerable amount of carbon dioxide and methane which contributes to greenhouse effect.
Reduced market share due to competition from other dairy producing countries and restrictions.
Occasional spells of drought causing a considerable drop in milk production.

Role of Dairy farming to the Economies
a) Earns Kenya foreign exchange by exporting milk and dairy products.
b) Saves some foreign exchange.
c) Government also earns revenue by taxation from the sale of dairy products which is used to fund various
development projects.
d) Provides employment in dairy farms, milk processing plants and dairy related industries.
e) Gives farmers an income which has alleviated poverty and raised living standards.
f) Promoted development of industries such as milk processing plants, input manufacturing industries which has created more
employment and raised per capita income.
g) Promotes good health and nutrition by providing proteins, fats and vitamins that are essential for human growth and development.
h) Has led to improvement of infrastructure in Kenya by government improving existing roads to ease milk delivery.