Livestock improvement and pastoralists livelihood outcomes: a study of Sahiwal cattle adoption among Isiria Maasai of Narok county, Kenya

Abstract

Although pastoralism enables up to 500 million people worldwide to realise their livelihood outcomes, its production has been affected by climatic and socio-economic changes. The changes necessitated adopting alternative livelihood activities undertaken by pastoralists or promoted by government and non-governmental organizations. This study was about one such intervention - introducing Sahiwal cattle. It reviewed the literature on the effects of adopting improved livestock breeds on income, food security, and social capital among pastoralists. It sought to investigate the association between adopting Sahiwal cattle and the livelihood outcomes of household incomes, food security, and social capital through a cross-sectional social survey that mixed qualitative and quantitative approaches. The study targeted pastoral communities, and it surveyed the Isiria Maasai of Narok County with the household and household head as its sampling unit and unit of analysis, respectively. The sample size was 400 households selected using multi-stage proportional random sampling. Key informants were purposely selected. The study collected primary data from households using a questionnaire and an observation checklist, while an FGD guide facilitated data collection from the focus groups. Data from key informants was collected using a key informant interview guide. The study utilised IBM-SPSS version 28 to analyse data and summarised results into frequencies, percentages, mean, and mode displayed in tables, bar graphs and histograms. The study relied on Spearman Correlation Coefficient to test the association between the independent and dependent variables. The study tested its hypotheses using the P-value approach at the 0.05 level of significance. Qualitative handwritten data was typed into a word document and read several times to discern recurring categories, opinions, and themes. More than two-fifths of the households had adopted Sahiwal cattle for between 3 and 6 years. More than half of the adopters were middle-aged (35 and 64 years). Respondents obtained income from cattle mainly through milk, live animals and breeding stock. There was a positive weak significant association between the adoption of Sahiwal cattle and household income (rs = .254) and social capital (rs = .177). The association between adopting Sahiwal cattle and food security was negative, weak (rs = -160) and significant. The study concludes that adopting Sahiwal cattle is positively associated with household income and social capital but negatively associated with food security. Hence, cattle production among Isiria Maasai is not only for income generation and source of food but also a cultural practice with social utility. Therefore, The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Irrigation should formulate an implementation guideline that promotes a package of interventions rather than one intervention to increase household income successfully. The County Government of Narok should develop a policy spelling out procedures for providing incentives to encourage livelihood diversification to complement the adoption of Sahiwal cattle as a household food security intervention. KALRO, through the County Government of Narok, should develop a practical guideline for the rotational use of pedigree Sahiwal bulls by pastoral households to upgrade their cattle which will enhance household social capital dimensions.

Although pastoralism enables up to 500 million people worldwide to realise their livelihood outcomes, its production has been affected by climatic and socio-economic changes. The changes necessitated adopting alternative livelihood activities undertaken by pastoralists or promoted by government and non-governmental organizations. This study was about one such intervention - introducing Sahiwal cattle. It reviewed the literature on the effects of adopting improved livestock breeds on income, food security, and social capital among pastoralists. It sought to investigate the association between adopting Sahiwal cattle and the livelihood outcomes of household incomes, food security, and social capital through a cross-sectional social survey that mixed qualitative and quantitative approaches. The study targeted pastoral communities, and it surveyed the Isiria Maasai of Narok County with the household and household head as its sampling unit and unit of analysis, respectively. The sample size was 400 households selected using multi-stage proportional random sampling. Key informants were purposely selected. The study collected primary data from households using a questionnaire and an observation checklist, while an FGD guide facilitated data collection from the focus groups. Data from key informants was collected using a key informant interview guide. The study utilised IBM-SPSS version 28 to analyse data and summarised results into frequencies, percentages, mean, and mode displayed in tables, bar graphs and histograms. The study relied on Spearman Correlation Coefficient to test the association between the independent and dependent variables. The study tested its hypotheses using the P-value approach at the 0.05 level of significance. Qualitative handwritten data was typed into a word document and read several times to discern recurring categories, opinions, and themes. More than two-fifths of the households had adopted Sahiwal cattle for between 3 and 6 years. More than half of the adopters were middle-aged (35 and 64 years). Respondents obtained income from cattle mainly through milk, live animals and breeding stock. There was a positive weak significant association between the adoption of Sahiwal cattle and household income (rs = .254) and social capital (rs = .177). The association between adopting Sahiwal cattle and food security was negative, weak (rs = -160) and significant. The study concludes that adopting Sahiwal cattle is positively associated with household income and social capital but negatively associated with food security. Hence, cattle production among Isiria Maasai is not only for income generation and source of food but also a cultural practice with social utility. Therefore, The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Irrigation should formulate an implementation guideline that promotes a package of interventions rather than one intervention to increase household income successfully. The County Government of Narok should develop a policy spelling out procedures for providing incentives to encourage livelihood diversification to complement the adoption of Sahiwal cattle as a household food security intervention. KALRO, through the County Government of Narok, should develop a practical guideline for the rotational use of pedigree Sahiwal bulls by pastoral households to upgrade their cattle which will enhance household social capital dimensions.