Bridging silage quality gap: A study with smallholder dairy farmers

Silage is vital for Kenya’s smallholder dairy farmers, yet poor quality limits productivity. A CGIAR / ILRI demand-driven study in Nandi and Bomet reveals implementation gaps beyond adoption, highlighting farmer-led learning and evidence-based interventions to improve silage quality, resilience, yields, and incomes.

Silage is increasingly becoming a critical pillar of smallholder dairy farming in Kenya. However, seasonal shortages of quality silage, due to environmental, economic, and management constraints is a significant challenge to optimal animal productivity. Silage is defined as high-moisture green fodder (such as maize, sorghum, or nappier grass) that has been chopped, compacted, and fermented under anaerobic (air-free) conditions to preserve it for feeding livestock during the dry season or periods of feed scarcity. 

In Bomet and Nandi counties, climate variability and shrinking land sizes are limiting year-round access to reliable and nutritious animal feed. As dry seasons grow longer and less predictable, natural pastures also decline. Further, the cost of commercial concentrates continues to rise. In this challenging environment, silage offers farmers a practical and cost-effective way to stabilize milk production by preserving forage during periods of abundance. If done well, silage enables more consistent milk yields, improves household incomes, and strengthens food security.

Why silage quality matters for smallholders

Despite its promise, many farmers are not realizing the full benefits of silage. Poor-quality silage produced at the farm level undermines livestock productivity and discourages farmers from fully committing to the practice. Without visible success stories among neighbours or peers, silage can appear risky and unrewarding. This reality raises a critical question about what prevents smallholder farmers from producing high-quality silage and how these challenges can be addressed in ways that respond directly to farmers lived experiences.
To better understand why silage quality remains low, the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) Adaptation Pioneers and Feed and Forages teams, designed a demand-driven silage quality study in Nandi and Bomet counties between October and November 2025. Using a participatory approach, the research focused on pioneer farmers—those recognized as innovative and relatively successful under similar constraints as their peers. Surprisingly, even these farmers, many of whom had attended silage training, were producing suboptimal silage. This finding revealed the need to move beyond assessing adoption and instead examine how effectively farmers are implementing silage technologies at the farm level.

The study concentrated on smallholder dairy farmers in Nandi and Bomet counties with at least two years of experience making silage. It sampled ninety households, including both farmers currently producing silage and those who had abandoned the practice. In each county, the study involved forty-five farmers.

Data collection combined farm visits, structured interviews, focus group discussions, and key informant interviews with farmers, extension workers, dairy cooperatives, and private sector actors. Researchers also collected silage samples to analyze forage types, storage methods, and silo temperatures, providing a robust empirical foundation for assessing silage quality.
“The silage quality testing that was done by ILRI gave us as farmers an opportunity to ask ourselves what we needed to improve in the silage making process and the best forages to use, especially in our area where there are feed shortages during dry seasons,” says Calistus Kipsang, a farmer from Kembu in Bomet County. 

Looking beyond adoption

The study showed that several constraints continue to hinder effective silage production. Labour shortages during harvesting and processing, limited access to suitable equipment, inadequate technical knowledge, and challenges with storage and preservation all affect the quality of silage produced. These factors determine whether farmers can harvest forage at the optimal stage, chop them to the right size, compact sufficiently, and store under airtight conditions—key requirements for proper fermentation and nutrient retention. Compounding these challenges is a significant lack of empirical data on the actual quality of silage produced by smallholders. Without this evidence, interventions tend to focus on promoting adoption rather than addressing quality bottlenecks. 

Direct link between silage quality and increased milk productivity

Poor-quality silage can reduce milk yields, compromise animal health, and erode farm profitability. For dairy cooperatives, improving silage quality is directly linked to increased milk supply and farmer prosperity. Isaac Kirui, a veterinary officer at Siongiroi Dairy Cooperative in Bomet County, underscores this connection. 

“As a dairy cooperative, we train farmers on feeds including silage making, because we want them to supply more milk to us when their productivity improves. This study reinforces our endeavor to improve milk productivity by our farmers by trying to find out what affects silage quality.” 

His perspective highlights the importance of evidence-based insights in strengthening both farmer livelihoods and cooperative performance.
Strengthening silage quality through farmer-led learning.

Feedback from the study show that farmers acquire most silage knowledge informally through neighbours or trial and error. While farmers recognize the importance of good compaction, airtight sealing, timely harvesting, and proper chopping, many struggle to apply these practices consistently. Despite these challenges, farmers and stakeholders widely recognize the benefits of silage. Esther Omayio, the Livestock Production Officer, County Government of Nandi explains.

“In Nandi County, silage is particularly important in our dairy production. Our farmers make silage from maize, Napier grass, sorghum and a few from oats, mixed with maize. If you compare farmers who are doing silage and the others who are not doing, you will see that farmers who are doing silage are in production in all the months of the year, even in the dry spells.” 

Laboratory analysis of the samples collected during the ILRI study is now underway to assess dry matter content, pH levels, lactic acid concentrations, and fibre composition. The ILRI teams will share these results through farmer-friendly, anonymized reports, allowing households to compare performance without stigma. They will disseminate the findings through farmer field days, pioneer farmer demonstrations, media engagement, and targeted capacity-building sessions to strengthen extension services and inform dairy development strategies. 
Improving silage quality holds strong potential to enhance resilience, productivity, and incomes within Kenya’s smallholder dairy sector. Caroline Kiprop, a farmer from Kurgung in Nandi County, reflects, 

“I started making silage because my grazing field is small. when I feed it to the cattle in the morning, they only need to graze for a short time to be satisfied.”

Closing the silage quality gap will help build a more resilient and profitable dairy industry, one in which smallholders are empowered to innovate and adapt, in a changing climate.

Author: Nathan Maiyo/ILRI. Contributors: Bernard Lukuyu, Emmaculate Kiptoo, Leah Gichuki and Birgit Habermann

Acknowledgement
This work was conducted as part of the CGIAR Sustainable Animal and Aquatic Foods (SAAF) Science Program. CGIAR research is supported by contributions from the CGIAR Trust Fund. CGIAR is a global research partnership for a food-secure future dedicated to transforming food, land, and water systems in a climate crisis.

Link to Resources
Adoption of Improved Forage Technologies and Its Effect on Household Income Among Dairy Farmers in Bomet County, Kenya
Forage conservation in sub-Saharan Africa: Review of experiences, challenges, and opportunities
Empowering producer-led innovation for climate resilient livestock