A survey was carried out in August to identify gaps on livestock production in the landscape. A Baseline report was developed and validated by county and government expert. During the process a curriculum and training manuals were also developed.
The curriculum consists of four modules which are:
- Feeding and breeding;
- Animal health and livestock marketing;
- Climate change and rangelands;
- Leadership and governance.
After the curriculum validation, NRTT enrolled 300 herders for capacity-building trainings from ten NRT conservancies on better production practices. NRTT has adopted the pastoralists’ field school approach. The approach engages herders in questions and answers sessions. The training focuses on supporting herders gather sufficient depth and gain practical skills in cattle production, with the aim of:
- Organizing herder structures and improving access to information and coordination of livestock health and husbandry;
- Improving productivity and competitiveness of livestock supply;
- Strengthening market linkages and information.
“At NRTT livestock department, we sensitize pastoralists through training on proper breed selection, supplemental feeding, participatory rangeland management, disease reporting and access to livestock inputs. We work with NRT community conservancies because they form a trusted institution where we can train pastoralists to form leverage for the people within the landscape.” Dr. Wario Sake Sori, Livestock Director, NRT Trading.
During one of the training sessions at Sera Conservancy, thirty trainees said they were happy with the first module training. The training will help them maintain and increase their livestock, and they will gladly share the skills gained with other community members.
“I am happy to be part of the NRTT herders training. Before the training, I thought I understood everything about livestock farming since I grew up as a pastoralist girl, and now I am a grandmother. NRTT has completely changed my opinion through their trainings. After just a few classes, I have learned many new and great things about livestock farming. I have learned about improving cattle breeds to improve milk and meat production. I have learned about selecting good cows in the market using scoring techniques which I am trained on. I will share the skills gained with other community members in my conservancy and beyond.” Jelina Lekiluai, herders training trainee.
Delivery of the modules started on January 2022 and will be going on for three years to deliver four modules to 300 herders in ten NRT conservancies.