Publications

Reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from agriculture has become a critical target in national
climate change policies. More than 80% of the countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) refer to the
reduction of agricultural emissions, including livestock, in their nationally determined contribution
(NDC) to mitigate climate change. The livestock sector in Kenya contributes largely to the gross
domestic product and to GHG emissions from the land use sector. The government has recently
pledged in its NDC to curb total GHG emissions by 30% by 2030. Quantifying and linking the
mitigation potential of farm practices to national targets is required to support realistically the
implementation of NDCs. Improvements in feed and manure management represent promising
mitigation options for dairy production. This study aimed (i) to assess mitigation and food production
benefits of feed and manure management scenarios, including land use changes covering Kenya’s
entire dairy production region and (ii) to analyse the contribution of these practices to national
targets on milk production and mitigation, and their biophysical feasibility given the availability of
arable land. The results indicate that improving forage quality by increasing the use of Napier grass
and supplementing dairy concentrates supports Kenya’s NDC target, reduces emission intensities by
26%–31%, partially achieves the national milk productivity target for 2030 by 38%–41%, and shows
high feasibility given the availability of arable land. Covering manure heaps may reduce emissions
from manure management by 68%. In contrast, including maize silage in cattle diets would not
reduce emission intensities due to the risk of ten-fold higher emissions from the conversion of land
required to grow additional maize. The shortage of arable land may render the implementation of
these improved feed practices largely infeasible. This assessment provides the first quantitative
estimates of the potential of feed intensification and manure management to mitigate GHG emissions
and to increase milk yields at sectoral-level and at a high spatial resolution for an SSA country. The
scientific evidence is tailored to support actual policy and decision-making processes at the national
level, such as ‘Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions’. Linking feed intensification and manure
management strategies with spatially-explicit estimates of mitigation and food production to national
targets may help the sector to access climate financing while contributing to food
security.