10/3/2017 Ex-ante perceptions and knowledge of artificial insemination among pastoralists in Kenya

Guide for
Livestock Research for Rural Development 27 (4) Citation of
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papers

Ex-ante perceptions and knowledge of artificial insemination

among pastoralists in Kenya
D N Khainga, G Obare1 and A Murage2
Department of Agricultural Economics and Business Management, Egerton University, P.O. Box 536-
20115, Egerton, Kenya,
dkhainga@gmail.com
1 Department of Agricultural Economics and Business Management, Egerton University, P.O. Box 536-
20115, Egerton, Kenya;
2 International Centre for Insect Physiology and Ecology, P.O. Box 30772-00100 Nairobi, Kenya

Abstract

We measured the preferences for Artificial Insemination (AI) for the stocking of Sahiwal cattle by
Maasai pastoralists. Multistage sampling was employed in collecting cross-sectional data of 384
respondents using structured questionnaires. An ordered probit regression model was adapted and data
analysed using stata.

We found group membership, access to extension, AI awareness, production system, county of residence,
years of education, household size and herd size to have a positive significant effect while experience
and age had a negative significant effect on the perception of farmers towards AI preference. Moreover,
pastoralists perceptions towards AI uptake were influenced by its affordability, accessibility, success rate
and its calf tolerance in arid and semi-arid environment. To ease demand for Sahiwal bulls from National
Sahiwal Stud, we recommend extensive farmer education through existing agricultural extension
networks to positively influence farmer perceptions towards AI technology for its rapid uptake.

Keywords: arid and semi-arid lands, ordered probit, preference, production systems, Sahiwal

Introduction

In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), dairy cattle produce about 70% of total national milk output with an
estimated annual per capita milk consumption ranging from 19 kg in rural areas to 125 kg in urban areas
(Muriuki 2011). Dairy production in Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs) has been perpetually low and
neglected by government agencies over a long period of time. The interaction between pastoralists and
commercial ranches remain active given the exchange of breeding material and where necessary semen
is obtained from the Sahiwal Cattle Breeders Society (FAO 2010). The farmers choice of a particular
breed to keep is determined by a number of factors not limited to characteristics of the production
systems, infrastructural limitations and changes in environmental conditions with respect to prevelence
of diseases and cattle feeds (Ouma et al 2004). Introduction of new breeds to pastoral areas has been in
progress, however, there is need to match these genetic resources to the existing production systems and
the distribution of such advanced germplasm should be viable with the use of available technologies and
infrastructure (FAO 2010).

Over the years, Sahiwal breed known for high milk production, endurance for hot climate of tropics,
resistance to tropical diseases, low cost of maintenance and higher feed conversion efficiency has been
used in the upgrading of the well adapted Small East African Zebus (SEAZs) (Ilatsia et al 2007; Ilatsia et
al 2011a). Trade-offs between the sahiwal and the SEAZs include how to tolerate drought and diseases as
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compared to indigenous breeds (Roessler et al 2010, Ilatsia et al 2011b). These need to be considered
when determining the degree of cross breeding in pastoral areas in a bid to safeguard their wealth and
production goals.

Major breeding aims of livestock farmers include high productivity in terms of milk and beef, improved
fertility and adaptability to local production environment (Roessler et al 2010). High milk productivity
per cow makes economic sense for the households to rear cattle which is evidenced in large number of
animals per herd, a characteristic of the Kenyan Maasai community. Cattle traits considered important by
breeders include milk production per lactation, reproductive efficiency, growth potential, adaptability,
udder conformation and temperament which are traits that the Sahiwal is credited for (Muhuyi et al
1999). The introduction of new breeding techniques such as AI is vital to structural change in pastoralist
production in Kenya. The need to denuclearise and disseminate Sahiwal genetic material through such
technologies including crossbreeding in ASALs is core given the aforementioned benefits. Hence, the
objective of this study was to determine factors that influence pastoral farmers perceptions and
preference for AI as an alternative breeding technology to the natural service.

Materials and methods

The study area

Narok and Kajiado counties were selected because they both have high number of pastoralists and high
concentration of Sahiwal breed and its crosses. Narok County is within a high agricultural potential area
with a relatively high population of both pure pastoralists and agro-pastoralists. Narok County covers an
area of 17,944 km (GOK 2010),with mean annual rainfall ranging from 500 to 1800 mm, temperature
ranges from 8C to 28C in the North and West. The southern part has a semi-arid climate (Jaetzold et al
2005). The climate is suitable for crop-livestock farming. Narok South is largely semi-arid with
pastoralism as the major occupation of the residents. Narok County is home for approximately 770,000
cattle heads, out of which 5000 are pure Sahiwal cattle while 69,000 are crosses of Sahiwal and the local
Zebu (MOLFD 2006). The County has a total human population of 850,920 with a population density of
47 persons per km and 12 % living below the poverty line (KNBS 2010).

Kajiado County lies on a land mass of 21,901 km characterised by semi-arid to arid tropical
environment,conditions that favour pastoral livestock production. The SEAZ is the predominant cattle
breed, followed by Sahiwal and their crosses with SEAZ, and unimproved Boran (MOLFD, 2006). The
County is estimated to be home for 440,000 cattle population of which 39,000 are pure Sahiwal while
approximately 130,000 are crosses of the Sahiwal breed and SEAZ (MOLFD 2006). Kajiado falls under
the research mandate area of the NSS where Sahiwal breeding activities have actively been promoted,
hence the relatively high concentration of Sahiwal genetic resources. The County has a total human
population of 687,312 with a population density of 31 persons per km and 11.6 % living below poverty
line (KNBS 2010).

Survey design and data collection

The survey was carried out in two phases. The first phase involved stakeholder group discussions
through workshops held at the Kenya Agricultural Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) to obtain
background and situational information about farmers perceptions on introduction of assisted
reproductive technologies in arid and semi-arid areas given their cultural beliefs. The information
gathered was incorporated in a structured questionnaire, and then pre-tested for both qualitative and
quantitative aspects which were then employed in collection of data in the second part of the survey.

Each County formed a sampling stratum based on dominant production system practiced by the farmers.
Kajiado and Narok Counties are majorly pastoral and agro- pastoral zones, respectively with a few
ranches scattered within each. The locations in each division as per the 2009 population census formed
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the sampling frame from which 45 sub-locations were sampled (GOK 2010). In the second stage, simple
random sampling was performed with assistance from community animal health officers and district
livestock production officers. A total of 384 households comprising 178 and 206 from Kajiado and
Narok counties respectively were sampled. The survey was conducted from December 2012 to January
2013. Household heads responsible for decision-making, especially in relation to livestock production
were interviewed. The questionnaire covered household characteristics, socioeconomic and institutional
factors. Data for addressing this specific objective were elicited by asking respondents to rank the
preference for AI services based on a range of factors.

Table 1. Definition of variables

Variable Description
AI preference Preference ranking for AI on a scale of 1-3; least preferred, preferred and most preferred respectively.
Youth-aged Household head aged between 18 and 35 years old (0 = no, 1 = yes)
Middle-aged Household head aged between 36 and 50 years old (0 = no, 1 = yes)
Elderly-aged Household head aged above 50 years old (0 = no, 1 = yes)
Education Education of household head (years of schooling)
Household size Number of household members
Land size Land owned by household head (acres)
Herd size Number of cattle owned by household head
Off-farm activity Household head has Off-farm income generating activities (0 = no, 1 = yes)
Experience Experience in keeping livestock (years)
AI awareness Household head is aware of artificial insemination (0 = no, 1 = yes)
Group membership Household member belongs to local group (0 = no, 1 = yes)
Credit access Household member accessed credit in the past 5 years (0 = no, 1 = yes)
Extension services Household member accessed extension services in the past 5 years (0 = no, 1 = yes)
Distance to market Distance to livestock markets (kilometres)
Agro-pastoralism Household practice agro-pastoralist production system (0 = no, 1 = yes)
Pure pastoralism Household practice pure pastoralist production system (0 = no, 1 = yes)
Narok County Household resides in Narok county (0 = no, 1 = yes)
Kajiado County Household resides in Kajiado county (0 = no, 1 = yes)
Nomadism Household is living nomadic lifestyle (0 = no, 1 = yes)
AI affordability Household head is willing to accept AI based on its affordability (0 = no, 1 = yes)
AI accessibility Household head is willing to accept AI based on its accessibility (0 = no, 1 = yes)
AI success rate Household head is willing to accept AI based on its success rate (0 = no, 1 = yes)
AI calf tolerance Household head is willing to accept based on AIs calf tolerance (0 = no, 1 = yes)
Attribute index Household attribute index is greater than the mean (0 = no, 1 = yes)

Empirical model and specification

Literature review indicates extensive use of either probit or logit models in analyzing factors that
influence farmers perceptions for a given technology or a programme. Unlike recent study by Makohha
et al (2008) that employed binary choice models for dependent variable, this study adapts ordered probit
because ordered dependent variable informs us about the level of preference for AI among various
pastoralists across the study area. The respondent revealed his/her perception by ranking AI services on a
Likert scale of 1 to 3, with 1 denoting least preferred; 2, preferred; and 3, most preferred, respectively.
Despite attractiveness of ordered probit in analyzing categorical data, it fails to account for protest
attitudes of respondents and choice task complexities which may influence consistency of results
(DeShazo and Fermo 2002). The above challenges were addressed through participatory approach
adopted in data collection in which choice tasks were simplified and farmers concerns addressed by
researchers from KALRO during the survey.

The ordered probit is related to the latent class of models. We adapt the approach by Long (1997), where
we consider variable Y which denotes preference rank given to AI by farmer i and takes on j values
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which are naturally ordered on the Likert scale. However, these observed values are assumed to be
derived from some unobservable latent variable Yi* such that:

where Xi refers to the observable individual specific factors, is a vector of parameters to be estimated
and ei is the stochastic-disturbance term with normal distribution (Greene 2003). The observed choice
outcomes Yi are assumed to be related to the latent variable Yi* as:

where i unknown threshold parameter for outcome i that separate the adjacent boundary values and is
estimated together with the s. The estimated i, (where i=0, 1, 2) follows the order 0 <1
<2.

The probability that the case falls into each category j, using the estimated i parameters as threshold
limits is given as:

where represents the cumulative density function of.The s can be estimated by computing the
marginal effects using maximum likelihood functions defined by Greene (2003). Thus:

The estimated marginal effects indicate the change in the likelihood that a farmer would prefer
or most prefer (as opposed to least preference) AI as a result of a unit change in the specifc
explanatory variable. An ordered probit regression was fitted for AI technology to obtain estimates of the
coefficients and marginal effects.

The estimated marginal effects indicate the change in the likelihood that a farmer would prefer
or most prefer (as opposed to least preference) AI as a result of a unit change in the specifc
explanatory variable. An ordered probit regression was fitted for AI technology to obtain estimates of the
coefficients and marginal effects.

Results and discussion

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Descriptive results

Pastoral production is a livestock production system characterized with large herds reared on huge
chucks of arid and semi-arid areas. Pastoralism involves movement of farmers with animals over long
distances in search of pasture and water. This exposes the farmer to risk of losing the animals due to
death especially during dry seasons. Table 2 presents a descriptive summary of key variables on farmer
and farm characteristics used in this study.

Table 2. Descriptive statistics and frequencies for farmers and farm characteristics by County
Counties Tests
Variable Whole sample P
Kajiado Narok t-test
Education 6.63 (6.18) 6.29 (0.49) 6.59 (0.47) -0.437 0.662
Household size 11.3 (6.39) 10.4 (0.48) 12 (0.52) -2.20 0.029
Land size (acres) 94.1 (55.3) 146.7(54.4) 47.3 (30.2) 4.20 0.000
Herd size 110 (12.7) 90.7 (8.17) 133 (11.34) -2.97 0.003
Experience 23.8 (12.1) 25.6 (0.98) 23.7 (0.91) 1.41 0.161
Distance to market 9.64 (8.90) 8.97 (0.69) 10.1 (0.75) -1.10 0.271
AI awareness 262 130 132 6.99 0.008
Group membership 182 81 101 0.377 0.539
Credit access 228 101 127 1.06 0.304
Extension services 105 33 72 13.3 0.000
Off farm activity 49 20 29 0.627 0.429
Pure pastoralism 191 74 117 9.81 0.002
Nomadism 52 33 19 7.80 0.005
Youth (18-35 years) 57 24 33 0.424 0.515
Middle aged farmers (36-50) 224 108 116 1.40 0.237
Elderly farmers (above 50) 45 18 27 0.760 0.383
Note: Standard errors in parenthesis
Source: Survey data, 2013.

Education levels in the study area were low with resulting statistics indicating an average of 6 years
(grade 6) of schooling while majority never attended school at all. Pastoralists still hold the view that a
huge household size is a sign of wealth and the summary statistic corroborates this with a mean size of
11 members. Unlike in most Counties in Kenya, the Maasai community still own huge tracks of land
parcels with a mean holding of 146.7 and 47.3 hectares in Kajiado and Narok counties, respectively. It is
worth noting that most of these tracks of land are held in groups. Large herd sizes (mean of 113 heads of
cattle) among pastoralists is considered as a social security besides being the only source of livelihood,
especially in Kajiado County. Respondents had many years of experience in keeping livestock with a
mean of 24.58 years and a significant deviation of 12.09 years. This implies that one starts keeping
livestock at youthful age and assumes full ownership immediately upon getting married according to the
Maasai culture. Given the vastness of the ASALs, pastoralists cover long distances (mean of 9.64 km) in
both counties to reach the nearest market centres which couple as livestock markets as well. Most
farmers were aware of AI services as an alternative breeding method to the bull. A total of 130 and 132
of the sampled farmers in Kajiado and Narok Counties respectively were aware but had not used AI
services before.

Most farmers, 55.8% in both counties belonged to either a production or a marketing group. Its
within these groups that they are able to constructively share production knowledge on livestock feeds
and general animal health. Most of the sampled farmers, 31% and 39% from Kajiado and Narok counties
respectively, had access to credit from their informal groups in the last 12 months. Survey results further
indicate that 15% of sampled farmers had other income generating activities besides livestock and crop
farming. Only 10.1% of sampled farmers in Kajiado were nomads and 5.83% in Narok County. Nomads
are less likely to adopt new innovations in livestock production because of their movements.

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Pastoralist Farmers Preference for Artificial Insemination

Pastoralists had different perceptions of AI (Table 3). Approximately 68.4% of farmers least preferred AI
while 23.62% and 7.98% revealed their preferences as preferred and most preferred respectively within
the counties sampled. Comparison of farmers preference for AI by county showed that more farmers
in Narok County preferred AI (9.66%) than their counterparts in Kajiado County (6.00%). A
significantly high proportion (81.33%) of farmers in Kajiado County (81.33%) had the least preference
for AI compared to 57.39% in Narok County. In contrast, 32.95% of farmers in Narok County preferred
AI compared to 12.67% in Kajiado County. This difference can be explained by the differences in nature
of lifestyles. Pastoralists move large herds for long distances and thus may neither have time for close
observation for heat detection in cows or response for artificial insemination. The infrastructure and cost
of maintaining frozen semen is exorbitant. This is unlike agro-pastoralists in Narok who live on the farm
with their animals and might access the breeders.

Table 3. Pastoralist farmers perception of AI

Preference level Whole sample (n=326) Narok County (n=176) Kajiado County (n=150)
Least preferred 223 (68.4) 101 (57.4) 122 (81.3)
Preferred 77 (23.6) 58 (33.0) 19 (12.7)
Most Preferred 26 (7.98) 17 (9.66) 9 (6.00)
Note: Percentages are in parenthesis
Source: Survey data, 2013

Factors that influence pastoralists perception of artificial insemination

Most pastoralists (66.9%) preferred AI based on its affordability across the two counties. There is
insignificant difference in perceptions of pastoralists about the cost of using this technology across the
two counties with 65.3% and 68.7% of all farmers in Narok and Kajiado acknowledging it as the best
cheap alternative breeding method as shown in table 4. The high percentages could be attributed to the
inadequate supply and high demand of Sahiwal bulls that influence farmers to be willing to pay for
alternative breeding methods apart from the bull to enhance their Sahiwal production.

Based on the ability of AI calf to tolerate arid and semi- arid climate, 25.8% of the sampled population
preferred to use AI. Disaggregated results by County mirror the same low levels with a significant
difference in levels of preference across the two Counties. A high proportion of pastoralists in Narok
County (30.7%) approve of AI calves survival ability compared to their counterparts in Kajiado County
(20%).

Table 4. Factors that influence pastoralists perception towards AI

Determinants Whole sample Narok County Kajiado County P
Affordability 218(66.9) 115(65.3) 103(68.7) 0.404 0.525
Calf tolerance 84(25.8) 54(30.7) 30(20.0) 4.830 0.028
Accessibility 76(23.3) 50(28.4) 26(17.3) 5.556 0.018
Success rate 77(23.6) 42(23.9) 35(23.3) 0.013 0.911
Note: Percentages are in parenthesis
Source: Survey data, 2013

The accessibility of a technology to its intended recipients is critical in achieving its purpose. Among the
pastoralists sampled, 23.3% expressed their interest in using AI based on their ability to access it.
Kajiado County registered the lowest percentage of farmers (17.3%) who had access to AI compared to
those in Narok County (28.4%). The sparse nature of settlements in Kajiado County explains low
adoption rates of assisted reproductive technologies in livestock production compared to Narok County.
These statistics confirmed the views of most farmers who participated in focused group discussions that
it is not easy to access AI in the ASALs. An insignificantly low percentage of pastoralists were interested
in adopting AI based on their knowledge of success rate (23.6%). This can be attributed to lack of
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relevant information about AI among pastoralists, which explains why there are low adoption rates in
ASALs compared to highland dairy farmers.

Ex-ante determinants of Artificial insemination adoption in arid and semi- arid areas of Kenya.

Results of ordered probity regression are presented in Table 5. The Likelihood Ratio (LR) Chi-Square
test for the goodness of fit shows that at least one of the covariates in the model is not equal to zero thus
the model provides good fit for the data. The chi statistic () is highly significant (p < 0.0000). The test
for multicollinearity resulted in a mean variance inflation factor (VIF) of 1.27. This means that there was
no multicollinearity among the variables based on VIF, since it was less than the threshold of 10, as
explained by Maddala (1997)

A summary view of the model coefficients in the first column indicate that group membership, access to
extension, AI awareness, agro-pastoralism as a production system, county of residence, nomadic
lifestyle, years of education, household size and herd size have a positive significant effect while
experience and age had a negative significant effect on the perception of farmers towards AI adoption.
Access to credit, distance to local market, land size and off-farm income were insignificant. The marginal
effects presented in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th columns refer to a small change in the dependent variable due to
a marginal change in the explanatory variable, ceteris paribus. We discuss in detail the model results
below.

Membership to a group was found to have significant positive influence on farmers perception
towards AI. Group membership increased the probability of preferring AI by 9.4% and ranking AI as the
most preferred by 1.6 %. This could be attributed to the fact that group members benefit from established
social capital that enhances sharing of production information and knowledge. Most groups that were
found to exist were mainly engaged in livestock production and marketing of animals among the men
while women formed milk selling groups. Members shared knowledge within the groups and could invite
livestock experts to teach them on better methods of production, which was common in Narok County.
These results suggest that groups provide a better avenue through which interventions targeting farmers
could be disseminated which confirms findings by Mignouna et al (2010) on adoption of new maize and
production efficiency in western Kenya.

Table 5. Result for ordered logit regression for revealed preference of AI by pastoralist farmers
Marginal effects Marginal effects Marginal effects
AI preference Coefficients
(least preferred) (preferred) (most preferred)
Group membership 0.358(0.054) - 0.109 (0.046) 0.094(0.048) 0.016(0.085)
Extension 0.327(0.066) - 0.105(0.074) 0.089(0.071) 0.017(0.073)
AI awareness 0.369(0.072) - 0.123(0.087) 0.102(0.079) 0.021(0.170)
Agro-pastoralism 0.517(0.003) - 0.165(0.004) 0.139(0.004) 0.027(0.031)
Narok county 0.538(0.005) - 0.165(0.004) 0.140(0.004) 0.024(0.028)
Nomadism 0.406(0.087) - 0.138(0.109) 0.113(0.096) 0.025(0.207)
Education 0.421(0.000) - 0.131(0.000) 0.112(0.000) 0.019(0.001)
Access credit 0.188(0.348) -0.059(0.332) 0.049(0.337) 0.008(0.330)
Household size 0.051(0.000) - 0.016(0.000) 0.014(0.001) 0.002(0.010)
Herd size 0.001(0.039) -0.0004(0.039) 0.0003(0.042) 0.0001(0.072)
Experience -0.025(0.002) 0.008(0.002) -0.007(0.003) -0.001(0.017)
Youth-aged -0.742(0.013) 0.190(0.002) -0.168(0.002) -0.022(0.013)
Middle-aged -0.508(0.029) 0.167(0.036) - 0.138(0.032) - 0.029(0.104)
Distance 0.004(0.627) - 0.001(0.628) 0.001(0.628) 0.0002(0.631)
Attribute index 1.94(0.001) - 0.602(0.001) 0.515(0.001) 0.087(0.011)
Land size 0.00005(0.727) - 0.00001(0.727) 0.000001(0.727) 0.00002(0.727)
Off-farm income -0.121(0.611) 0.037(0.600) -0.032(0.603) - 0.005(0.583)
/cut-off 1 2.92 0.614
/cut-off 2 4.31 0.646
Number of observations 296
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Prob > 0.0000
Note: P values in parenthesis
Source: Survey data, 2013

The results further showed that access to extension services increased the probability of a farmer moving
from a lower preference level to a higher level (p <0.1). These findings are consistent with those of
Kaaya et al (2005) in Uganda and Adegbola and Gardebroek (2007) in Benin who found adoption of
technologies by maize farmers depended largely on receiving production information from extension
agents or from other farmers. In our study area, provision of extension services (22% in Kajiado and 41%
in Narok had access to extension services) is still low which forced most farmers to seek advice from
private livestock input suppliers to improve their production. In response to Government policy on
extension service provision to farmers, NGOs in pastoral areas organize open field days for farmers to
interact and share production experiences. Field days are taken as a form of extension, and explain the
reason as to why participating farmers are more likely to adopt AI than non-participant farmers. These
results complement the findings of Amudavi et al (2008) on evaluation of farmers field days as a
dissemination tool for Push-Pull technology in western Kenya. The authors observed that the
farmers propensity to seek new agricultural knowledge motivated farmers to attend the field days
and seek extension services.

Artificial insemination awareness was found to have a positive relationship with preference. The
coefficient indicates that awareness increases the probability of a farmer to move from lower rank (least
preference) to preferring AI by 0.102 times. The rate of adoption of AI technology depends on the
availability of information to the farmers about that technology. These findings are consistent with
Murage et al (2011) who found effective and efficient dissemination pathways to be fundamental in
accelerating adoption rates. The low levels of AI uptake in ASALs in this study could be attributed to
lack of relevant knowledge to the farmers about its potential to increase production and the technical
know-how. These results are consistent with findings of Johnson and Ruttan (1995) who established
breeding technologies to be highly information intensive. To effectively use AI technology, the farmer is
required to understand breeding principles, performance data, management and analysis to.

Experience in keeping livestock made farmers realise that AI was less feasible than use of bulls for
breeding within the pastoral context. This means that a unit increment in years of experience in keeping
livestock reduces the likelihood of moving from a lower level of preference to higher preference levels
for AI (p < 0.01). This result contradicts most studies that found relative farming experience to
accumulate knowledge that influence a farmer to adopt new technologies that would boost production
(Odendo et al 2010; Motuma et al 2010). Most pastoralists who had kept livestock for many years held a
pessimistic view about the ability of breeding using Assisted Reproductive Technologies besides the bull.
The coefficients for age groups indicate negative significant relationship with AI adoption. That is, the
older a pastoralist becomes the less likely that he would shift his low perception towards AI to higher
preference. However, young farmers are more willing to take the risk of adopting new technologies
unlike their old counterparts that are more risk averse, corroborating study findings by Howley et al
(2012) on AI adoption in Ireland.

Education of a household head had a significant positive influence on the perception of a pastoralist
towards AI. Given that its a new technology among most pastoralists, those who are educated were
willing to take the risk and try, while the less and non-educated were more risk averse. These findings are
consistent with most adoption studies of Genius et al (2006), Abebe et al (2013), Makokha et al (2008)
and Howley et al (2012). Since a new technology is developed to improve production, education has
been found to increase farmers ability to obtain and evaluate information about an innovation before
making informed decision on its use.

There was a significant difference in the perception effect of AI across Counties. Most farmers (61.3%)
in Narok County are agro-pastoralists hence movement of their animals is limited to short distances from
their homesteads unless there is a prolonged dry spell. Limited movement of livestock makes it easier to
spot animals on heat and call service providers to their homes to administer AI compared to nomadic
pastoralists in Kajiado who moved with animals from one locality to another in search of water and
pastures.
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Household size was significant and positively related to preference for AI. This means that an additional
member to the household would increase the likelihood of preferring AI as a breeding technology. This
could be alluded to the fact that huge herd sizes symbolizes wealth in Maasai community and livestock
being the major source of their livelihood, any attempts to improve and grow the herd size is most
welcome. The current results are in line with findings of Mignouna et al (2010) who reported household
size as a proxy to labour availability and a positive relationship with adoption of Insect Resistant maize.

Herd size was found to be significant at 1% indicating that an increase in herd size by one animal
increases the probability of a pastoralist to prefer AI by 0.0003 times. This is sensible given that AI can
be done simultaneous on many animals at the same time unlike a single bull in a large herd size. The
small influence of herd size on adoption of AI contradicts findings of Janssen et al (2006) who found
availability of AI to be practically zero and needs an organization structure that targets livestock under
intensive production system. The workers also established that the use of AI required comparatively
more input into the infrastructure and education since pastoralists experiences with this technique is
very little.

Conclusion and policy implications

Study findings revealed low preference for AI services as an alternative breeding technology to the
bull. Success rate of AI technology in breeding, its accessibility, and the ability of the AI calf
surviving in pastoral areas were key factors that influenced low preference for the AI. Moreover,
pastoralists level of preference for AI was significant and positively influenced by education
levels, herd size, household size, and group membership, access to extension services, production
system, location and awareness of the technology. However, livestock keeping experience and the
age of the pastoralist had negative significant effects. Significant institutional variables such as;
access to extension services and group membership provide important policy intervention avenues
when designing strategies to enhance adoption of AI in pastoral areas by the government and non-
governmental organizations.

Recommendations

Drawing from current study findings, there is need to revise demand driven government policy on
extension services in the Country. This would boost dissemination of relevant information to all
farmers and enhance acceptance of AI services thereby increasing the spread of Sahiwal genetic
materials in pastorals areas. Subsidizing AI services for pastoralists could serve as a catalyst for
Sahiwal adoption, thus reducing the demand for the bull while lowering the production cost of the
farmer. This subsidy could be administered at two levels; at the NSS level where semen is acquired
and at farm level by subsidizing the cost of service providers.

Acknowledgement

The financial support from both East Africa Agricultural Productivity Project and African Economic
Research Consortium is gratefully acknowledged.

Conflict of Interest: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Statement of human rights:
Ethical approval: For this type of study formal consent is not required.
Statement on the welfare of animals
Ethical approval: This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed

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10/3/2017 Ex-ante perceptions and knowledge of artificial insemination among pastoralists in Kenya

by any of the authors.

Informed consent: Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants in this study.

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Received 14 February 2015; Accepted 13 March 2015; Published 1 April 2015

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