One of our experts visited the beautiful Mau Forest in Kenya last week. This area is located northwest of capital city Nairobi and is famous for its tea. The tea fields together with the forest give this area a special appearance with wonderful panoramas. Per request of a sustainability organization The Friesian conducts, in cooperation with SNV Kenya, an assignment to study the possibilities for intensifying a smallholder dairy farming model.
The case is that the described landscape, unfortunately is under threat from various environmental reasons. In the past, forest excisions, encroachments and the subsequent conversion to agricultural land use have reduced its forest cover. Nowadays, an abundance of livestock in the forest for grazing purposes is identified as one of the main drivers for deforestation. Our client is involved in the protection of this area and adresses conservation challenges through a multi-stakeholder approach. To reduce the number of cattle in the forest, and to increase the income generating opportunities for farmers, an intensification model needs to be explored for communities living in the concerning area. The intention in this model is to keep the cattle on a small, demarcated area near the small farm.
Our consultancy proved to be very useful in the analyses of the possibilities for intensification. For now, a business case and pilot project concept will be developed by our expert team.
