Collective Action and Digital Platform; Towards Enhanced Fodder Farming for Better Livelihoods and Land Management

Kenyan drylands, in which livestock production is the main source of livelihood, are most affected by climate change. They experience prolonged, more frequent and severe droughts leading to livestock mortalities mainly due to pasture scarcity. Grazing lands have shrank, are more degraded and less productive. To address these constraints, fodder farming has been introduced in such areas as an approach for not only ensuring feed available but also reclaiming such degraded land. To facilitate this process, we have developed a model – combining collective action (fodder farmer groups) and a digital platform (FodderNet) as a tool for enhancing stakeholders’ interaction, access to information on fodder farming and land management practices, as well as marketing of fodder products. The approach is aimed at up-scaling and out-scaling fodder farming among the communities in the drylands of Kenya. This will stabilize the availability and accessibility of livestock feeds, improve household income through market oriented fodder farming and promote reclamation of bare and degraded land in such areas.