The government is promoting the Juncao grass technology that is not only attractive for livestock production systems but also useful for supporting feed availability during dry periods.
Juncao grass, a technology from China, is fast-growing, high-yield grass that offers a strategic solution to challenges experienced in semi-arid and drought-prone regions since it can be produced in harsh conditions, provides nutritious fodder for dairy and beef livestock, and requires low inputs compared to traditional pasture.
Speaking during a national capacity-building workshop in Nairobi on promoting Juncao technology, Principal Secretary (PS) for the State Department for Livestock Development, Jonathan Mueke, said that a major technical constraint facing the livestock sector is the availability of adequate, affordable, and nutritionally balanced animal feeds.
“We face Low productivity of existing fodder varieties; limited fodder conservation practices such as silage and hay production; high cost of feed ingredients used in commercial feed formulation; as well as pressure on rangelands due to increasing livestock populations,” he added
In a speech read on his behalf by the Director of Livestock Production, Bishar Elmi, the PS noted that Kenya must, therefore, continue to explore alternative and climate-resilient fodder production technologies that can supplement natural pastures and conventional fodder crops.
Having the Juncao technology introduced in Kenya five (5) years ago through private efforts, Mueke said that since then, studies conducted to test suitability for livestock feeding systems have shown significant promise, particularly due to the grass’s high crude protein content and adoption in wide ecological areas, namely the high rainfall areas to arid areas such as in Wajir County.
On the sidelines of the workshop, Director Elmi acknowledged that animals’ feed, especially in the semi-arid areas, has been a challenge with the 60 per cent feed deficit in the country, and in order to increase the meat and milk production, Juncao technology is key.
“Our annual meat demand for the country remains 600 metric tonnes as a country, but what we produce as a country is 495 tonnes of meat, so we still have a deficit, and one of the issues is that we are not able to attain the numbers due to lack of animal feed,” he said.
He added that the Juncao grass technology has been tested to have high protein contents and that the research institutions have given it a clean bill that the crude protein is between 13 and 16 per cent; thus, it is worth introducing in our country, and it is one of the strategies that the ministry is using to promote it.
“We will be setting aside two acres of land per ward in our country to multiply the Juncao grass technology for animals and if we are able to propagate this, we will be able to fill the gap of the feed deficit, complementing what we produce in our country in terms of feed production. ” Elmi said.
In terms of our dairy sector, the Ministry, he noted, will be contracting farmers to produce the raw materials required to manufacture the compound feeds, and that is a strategy that the Ministry is employing to ensure the production of 10 billion litres of milk, a target set by the President for the year 2027.
To ensure that the country produces enough feed at a small scale, the Director said that the government is supporting farmers with the subsidised cuttings for them to multiply the Junhao grass, and in turn they sell it at an affordable price.
Over 10 million Kenyans are relying on livestock for their livelihood, and in order for one to say they have reached sustainable livestock transformation, they should be able to provide the feed that they require in addition to the disease control and also the breed improvement.
The government Elmi said, is in the process of assessing and has already mapped out areas where juncao has done well namely Baringo, Nakuru and Kajiado counties, where even one farmer have gone ahead and making pellets out of the grass, conserving it and selling it to farmers around
The UN Resident Coordinator, Stephen Jackson, said the workshop introduces not only technology in the country but it is also creating space for something larger, which is bringing together policy, science and lived field experience and reality.”
“This workshop matters. It’s about deepening national capacity to assess, adapt, and potentially scale a solution that may hold real promise for Kenya’s future at a time of both crisis and opportunity,” he added.
The agriculture sector, Jackson said, remains the backbone of the Kenyan economy, central to household incomes, central to national food security, and increasingly central to Kenya’s export future and thus the challenges of increasing production, building resilience and supporting farmer systems that can endure stress can be addressed with technology such as Juncao, he added
“This technology can help us support more sustainable farming systems while also contributing to environmental restoration and climate mitigation. It speaks to the interconnection between food production, livestock development, land restoration, climate resilience, and rural incomes”, Jackson said.
The Resident Coordinator whose five-year term is ending in the next two weeks and who is moving to China in the same capacity said that from the other end, he will be the bridge, extending partnership around Juncao and many other technologies that China and Kenya can share.
Livestock fodder, Jackson noted, is almost the first casualty of drought in Kenya and thus if we have a drought-resistant alternative to that, that we can produce at scale, what a transformation that will be to improve productivity in ways that are affordable and sustainable
Prof. Lin Dong-Mei, Vice Director of China National Engineering Research Centre of Juncao, said, “Apart from the Junhao grass, it is only one of the many varieties they are promoting in China and other developing countries.”
“Averagely, globally, we have been planting this grass from temperate zones to tropical zones, and the production reached from about 50 tonnes of fresh grass to 150 tonnes of fresh grass, and with proper management, you can expect about 200 to 300 tonnes of fresh grass per hectare here in Kenya,” she said.
Prof. Don-Mei explained that the grass is easy to grow, but if one wants to achieve a high yield, they need to have good management skills.” You plant once and keep harvesting for many years ”.
Dr. LIN Zhanxi, Chief Scientist and Inventor of Juncao Technology, said that with Kenya facing a feed deficit of 33 million tonnes every year, the Giant Juncao is a high-quality forage, and one hectare can produce 150 tonnes of fresh grass annually.
“To close this gap, you need 220,000 hectares of Juncao, which is only 2.1 per cent of Kenyans’ idle hillsides and abandoned mining land. The math is simple and the solution is practical. Prof Zhanxi said
Juncao grass’s first harvest takes about four months; then, after every two months, one harvests once. The growth protein is about 16 to 18 percent, yielding about 180 to 240 tonnes per acre, meaning one can feed 20 cows or, equivalently, 200 goats.
The three-day National Capacity Building workshop in Nairobi is running under the theme “Promoting JUNCAO technology for resilient food systems, poverty eradication, and climate adaptation in Kenya”.
By Wangari Ndirangu
