Wonder grass back in Africa, opens new horizon for Kenya’s livestock sector

Corporate News

Albernus Mulwa harvests Brachiaria grass at his farm in Machakos County. PHOTO | SARAH OOKO |  NATION MEDIA GROUP

By SARAH OOKO

In Summary

• “Since I began using Brachiaria, the profit I get from my milk has tripled and I am just getting started. The grass grows so fast allowing me to harvest every four months,” he said.
• Giving cows a balanced nutritious feed, boosts milk and meat production. After a bumper harvest, Brachiaria can easily be dried in the sun and conserved as hay for sale or future use.
• Farmers were offered practical intensive training on various aspects of the grass before they were eventually allowed to plant it.

When Brazil started growing Brachiaria, a wonder grass that is native to Africa, its annual milk production went up. One cow produced more than 1,382 kilogrammes of milk compared to Kenya’s paltry 732 kilogrammes.

A majority of farmers on the continent rely on Napier grass as the wonder grass variety disappeared from Africa in the colonial era transforms global dairy sectors.
Its first stop was in Australia where the grass revolutionised the livestock industry.

Later, South American scientists visited Australia with an aim of unearthing the secret behind the success of the livestock sector.

South America quickly started growing the grass. It is now the continent with the largest Brachiaria grass plantation globally and a booming livestock industry.

In Brazil alone, for instance, the grass occupies 110 million hectares of the country’s land.

Brachiaria’s contribution to the country’s dairy sector is immense, making it a favourite destination for many African nations—including Kenya—seeking tips on developing thriving livestock sectors.

East Africa has now brought the wonder grass home.

“This grass has transformed livestock industries in other countries yet it’s native to Africa. So we believe that it can do much more here,” Dr Donald Njarui, the senior principal research scientist at the Kenya Agricultural Research and Livestock Organisation (KALRO), told the Business Daily. Kenya and its neighbours like Rwanda have started growing the grass.

MAJOR PILLAR

The livestock sector is a major pillar for Africa’s economy providing farmers with income, food and crop inputs like manure, but it has the lowest livestock production trends worldwide.

Perennial shortage of forages has contributed to low milk and meat production.

In Kenya, the livestock industry contributes about 10 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) — a figure that economists predict will easily rise if hurdles in the largely untapped sector are addressed.

A majority of livestock keepers in Kenya, just as in most parts of Africa, are found in arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs) which occupy more than 70 per cent of the country.

Livestock yields in these areas are often low due to long dry spells and poor quality soils that cannot support the growth of high quality forages like Napier and Rhodes grass which thrive in the highlands.

Climate change has further aggravated the adverse environmental conditions in dry lands.
But hope lies in the wonder grass.

“This grass is unbelievable. It’s like magic. You give it to the cow and the impact is immediate. After just one week of feeding it to my cow, milk production rose by three litres and kept going up,” said Albernus Mulwa when the Business Daily visited his farm in Kanzalu village.

The 32-year-old from Kangundo is one of the more than 1,000 Kenyan farmers participating in the field trials of Brachiaria grass.
He said he first learned about the grass variety during a field demonstration day at Kalro Katumani branch.

Farmers were offered practical intensive training on various aspects of the grass before they were eventually allowed to plant it.

“I used to rely on Napier and it was good. But this new grass is much better. It’s the best. And so I even want to cultivate it in more acres of my land,” he said.

The first part of the project, already underway in Kenya and Rwanda, involves bringing back to Africa some of the high yielding climate-smart Brachiaria grass varieties doing well in South America.

As they have been away from ‘home’ for such a long time, these grasses evolved through breeding or other natural process to be able to withstand environmental conditions, pests and diseases specific to South American countries.

Therefore, before they are fully reintroduced and commercialised in Africa, researchers are first conducting field trials to identify varieties that can cope with environmental conditions here.

The preliminary results are promising. They have indicated an increase in milk production of about 20 to 40 per cent in Kenya, and up to 100 per cent in Rwanda where trials began much earlier.

Studies comparing Brachiaria and traditionally used high-quality forages like Napier and Rhodes grass are still underway in Kenya.

But results from Rwanda show that controlled on-farm feeding with Brachiaria led to an increase in milk production of 37 per cent over Napier feeding.

Similarly, substitution of Napier with Brachiaria led to animal weight gain of about 205 grammes daily over duration of four months when cows were fed on the wonder grass.

“The weight gain shows that Brachiaria is also good for meat production,” explained Dr Sita Ghimire, the lead scientist of the Brachiaria project at BecA-ILRI Hub.

With these positive results, the grass is already boosting livelihoods of ASAL small-scale farmers who are major players in Kenya’s livestock industry.

David Mbithi, another Kenyan farmer is counting his gains.

“Since I began using Brachiaria, the profit I get from my milk has tripled and I am just getting started. The grass grows so fast allowing me to harvest every four months,” he said.