Characterization of dairy innovations in selected milksheds in Kenya using a categorical principal component analysis

To enhance milk quantity and quality which have continued to decrease in Kenya, various stakeholders have intervened through promotion of technical dairy innovations at the farm level including improved cow feeding, health management, promotion of exotic breeds, and milking hygiene. At the milkshed level, stakeholders’ focus has been on organizational innovations, specifically milk sale by farmers through groups. This study sought to characterize dairy innovations that have been adopted by farmers in the milkshed of three milk processors including New Kenya Co-operative Creameries Sotik (NKCC Sotik), Happy Cow Limited (HCL), and Mukurweini Wakulima Dairy Limited (MWDL), representing one state, private, and farmer-owned processor, respectively. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire from a sample of 1146 farmers (410, 382, and 354 in MWDL, HCL, and NKCC Sotik, respectively). A categorical principal components analysis was used to reduce 32 variables into four sets of uncorrelated components. Four categories were identified including principal component (PC) 1 (technical capacity), PC 2 (animal health management), PC 3 (organizational capacity), and PC 4 (milk hygiene). More farmers in the milkshed of MWDL adopted technical and organizational dairy innovations such as use of artificial insemination and milk sale through groups, respectively, than farmers in milkshed of NKCC and HCL. The county governments in the milkshed of HCL and NKCC Sotik need to strengthen cooperative societies to boost adoption of artificial insemination through arrangement in which milk is sold and payment of services offered on credit is settled from milk sale and ensure milk market availability throughout the year.