Table of Contents Opening Remarks 3 Overview of the Voices of Poor Livestock Keepers in the Lake Victoria Basin Study 3 Sharing of Preliminary results from Vihiga district 5 Map 1: Study Sites in Vihiga District 6 Table 1: Sub locations that were sampled for the study in Vihiga district... 6 Table 2: Main occupations in Vihiga district 7 Table 3: Sources of information on livestock 7 Table 4: Type of livestock information sought 8 Table 5: Information farmers have been seeking on farmyard manure 9 Table 6: Percentage of sources of information who failed to provide information that was needed 9 Table 7: Sources of livestock information in the study sites 9 Table 8: Type of livestock information sought in the study sites 10 Table 9: Gender and livestock information sources 11 OUTPUTS FROM WORKING GROUPS 11 GROUP ONE: How can the functions of community-based organizations be strengthened to better meet the needs of poor livestock keepers? 11 Task 1. Define a community-based organization (CBO) 11 Task 2. Describe main types of CBOs in Vihiga District 11 Task 3: What are the roles of youth groups, self help groups, women groups in meeting the needs of the poor 11 Task 4: Describe how those roles can be strengthened 12 GROUP TWO: Describe what is means to be a poor livestock keeper in Vihiga District 12 Task 1: Definition of a livestock keeper 12 Task 2: What distinguishes people as poor livestock keepers (indicators).. 12 Task 3: How do livestock keepers become poor/non-poor? 12 GROUP THREE: How can the needs of poor livestock keepers be better met? 13 Task 1: What information do livestock keepers need? 13 Task 2: Are they getting this information now? 13 Task 3: How can the gaps be filled? 14 Task 4: Identify who will fill the gaps? 14 GROUP FOUR: Are there ways or methods for reaching poor people that would be more effective (e.g. schools, church groups, markets)? 14 Task 1: List the alternative methods that have good potential 14 Task 2: How could those methods be strengthened? 14 Task 3: Are there any successful experiences in Vihiga district? 15 Task 4: Priority actions 16 Conclusions and reflections on the workshop 16 District Livestock Production Officer's final comments 17 Some agencies providing services to farmers in Vihiga district 18 Programme 21 Participant List 22 2 Opening Remarks By Arlington Omushieni - District Agriculture and Livestock Extension Officer, Vihiga District The Government of Kenya has established a new National Agricultural Extension Policy that formally ends the government monopoly on the provision of agricultural information. The new policy instead encourages pluralistic extension involving government agencies, non-governmental organizations, community-based organizations and the private sector to meet the needs of our farming communities. The Extension Service of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is expected to lead extension efforts and to coordinate the activities of all extension providers. This study - Voices of Poor Livestock Keepers - will help to guide the implementation of this policy in Vihiga District. The study will help the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to better understand the needs of poor people and provide guidance on how those needs can be better served. We in Vihiga are thankful to ICRAF fro conducting the study in the district for the benefit of all stakeholders especially farmers. We look forward to workable recommendations derived from this workshop, which will help to improve agricultural extension service delivery to farmers in Vihiga district. Overview of the Voices of Poor Livestock Keepers in the Lake Victoria Basin Study By Brent Swallow, ICRAF - World Agroforestry Centre, Nairobi DFID has invested a great deal of funds into livestock health and production research but is concerned about the level of impact. In this respect it is leading a consortium of donors interested in livestock research to find out how the poor can benefit from the "livestock revolution." DFID is focusing its research and development interventions on the needs of the poor. To do this it engaged consultants in 2001 to assess suppliers of livestock information in East Africa. DFID also supported ILRI to do a study of livestock production and poverty in developing countries which identified the Lake Victoria Basin as a concentration of poor people and livestock within the African continent. In 2002, ICRAF is leading a component of the study that focuses on the information and technology needs and sources for poor livestock keepers in the Lake Victoria Basin. Project activities have been implemented in 10 selected districts of the basin regions of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda in collaboration with a number of partners. Support for the study and this workshop is provided by DFID and ICRAF core funds. Objectives of the study are: 3 a) Identify where significant numbers of poor livestock keepers are located in the Lake Victoria basin b) Describe how those poor livestock keepers access new knowledge and technologies, with emphasis on knowledge and technologies pertaining to livestock c) Identify what the levels of demand for new livestock related knowledge and technologies are and to what extent these information needs are being met d) Document which civil society organizations operate in the Lake Victoria basin and to what extent they actually, and potentially, cater for the interests of poor livestock keepers e) Suggest what ways civil society organizations can be empowered to enable poor people to better access new information and technologies Methodology The main focus of the study was on the demand-side of information and innovation flow. Our approach to the study was to represent the range of conditions that prevail across the poorer parts of the Lake Victoria Basin. To best capture this, the study adopted a multi-layered approach starting from the regional level to the household level. At the regional and national levels, the study is still compiling and reviewing literature and on going studies on farming system characterization, farmer advisory services, and information sources. The next level of aggregation is the district level. Districts were chosen to represent high levels of poverty and contrasting social-cultural and agro-ecological conditions. In Kenya, Vihiga, Bondo and Migori districts were chosen on the basis of those criteria. Qualitative methods and secondary information were used to collect information at the district level. Within each district, sub-locations were then selected to represent the major socio-cultural and agro-ecological circumstances and contrasting access to information and services. Participatory methods (e.g. search conferences) were used to collect information for the locations. Households in each sub-location were randomly selected for a household survey. The research tools used were key informant interviews, participatory tools such as the use, access, control/ownership matrix to show information and innovation around the resources, and the search conference. At the household level, a questionnaire was administered. The team implementing the study includes ICRAF researchers and consultants, a lecturer from Egerton University, staff from local government and the Tanzanian Forestry Research Institute, and staff from non-governmental organizations in Uganda. Mr. David Amudavi, a lecturer at Egerton University, led the implementation of the field work in Vihiga District, working closely with Nelson Mango, Wilson Nindo and Rosalynn Gichimo. Fieldwork in Vihiga District was conducted in August and September 2002 and preliminary results have been compiled. This workshop is now being convened to advance three objectives: 1) Share the preliminary results of the study with stakeholders who could benefit from the results in the design of their own future activities; 2) Obtain reactions to our interpretations of the results - Are the results an accurate depiction of the situation in the district? and 3) Brainstorm with stakeholders on what the results mean for agricultural technology development and information dissemination in Vihiga district. The workshop will proceed as follows: (1) Nelson Mango will make a presentation of the main results obtained to date on behalf of the study team; (2) we will have a plenary discussion of those results; (3) the participants will break into 4 working groups to discuss specific topics raised by the study; and (4) the working groups will report back to the plenary sessions. Sharing of Preliminary results from Vihiga district By Nelson Mango, Consultant, ICRAF - World Agroforestry Centre, Nairobi Vihiga district is one of the eight districts in Western province. It lies between longitude 34° 30' East and 35° 0' East and between 0°and 0° 15' North. The total population of Vihiga district as the per the 1999 Population and Housing Census was 498,882 with an annual growth rate of 3%. The annual rainfall is between 1800-2000mm per annum. The size of the District is 563 square kilometres and the population density is 886 persons per square kilometre. The number of people continues to increase, as farm sizes remain static. Due to small farms and large families there is high pressure on the land. The infant mortality rate is 98 for every 1,000 live births. A large labour force is engaged in agricultural and livestock production activities. The average farm size is 0.5ha. Most farms are under subsistence farming. The major farm related problem is declining soil fertility. According to the finding of this study the average household size is 6. In Vihiga district, data was collected in six sub-locations: namely • Hamuyundi in West Maragoli location, • Madzuu in Mungoma location, • Kaptech in Shaviringa location, • Gamalenga in Tambua location, • Esabalu in South Bunyore location and • Emmukunzi in East Bunyore location. The region is largely occupied by three main ethnic groups of the Luhya community in the district namely: Maragoli, Banyore and Tiriki. In each region, two representative sub locations were chosen, one representing a high potential sub location and the other representing a medium potential sub location.