Achieving food security for one million sub-Saharan African poor through push-pull innovation by 2020.

Food insecurity is a chronic problem in Africa and is likely to worsen with climate change and population growth. It is largely due to poor yields of the cereal crops caused by factors including stemborer pests, striga weeds and degraded soils. A platform technology, 'push-pull', based on locally available companion plants, effectively addresses these constraints resulting in substantial grain yield increases. It involves intercropping cereal crops with a forage legume, desmodium, and planting Napier grass as a border crop. Desmodium repels stemborer moths (push), and attracts their natural enemies, while Napier grass attracts them (pull). Desmodium is very effective in suppressing striga weed while improving soil fertility through nitrogen fixation and improved organic matter content. Both companion plants provide high-value animal fodder, facilitating milk production and diversifying farmers' income sources. To extend these benefits to drier areas and ensure long-term sustainability of the technology in view of climate change, drought-tolerant trap and intercrop plants are being identified. Studies show that the locally commercial brachiaria cv mulato (trap crop) and greenleaf desmodium (intercrop) can tolerate long droughts. New on-farm field trials show that using these two companion crops in adapted push-pull technology provides effective control of stemborers and striga weeds, resulting in significant grain yield increases. Effective multi-level partnerships have been established with national agricultural research and extension systems, non-governmental organizations and other stakeholders to enhance dissemination of the technology with a goal of reaching one million farm households in the region by 2020. These will be supported by an efficient desmodium seed production and distribution system in eastern Africa, relevant policies and stakeholder training and capacity development.

Factors that determine use of breeding services by smallholder dairy farmers in Central Kenya.

This study examined the determinants of smallholder dairy farmers' use of breeding services in Nyandarua and Kiambu districts, Central Kenya. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews with 140 randomly selected respondents. The breeding services considered were artificial insemination (AI), natural bull service, or a combination of AI and bull services. A multinomial logit econometric model was used fitting AI as the base category. There was a negative relationship between higher levels of education, herd size, and location and the use of bull service. However, education, herd size, and credit were positively related to the combined option. The results indicate that uptake of AI services after the liberalization of the sector is influenced by other factors besides cost-related factors. Factors such as accessibility to breeding services and product markets had influence on the farmer decision to choose among the available breeding services. The effectiveness of the breeding services in terms of successful conception also plays a big role in the choice. A need for concerted efforts to increase farmer's knowledge base on utilization and effectiveness of available breeding services is imperative. Furthermore, smallholder dairy farming could be made more sustainable and economically viable by implementing initiatives geared towards enhancing access to breeding services that would guarantee access to quality genetic material.