High energy feed from a dangerous weed
Farmers have begun to harvest the pods in order to make high energy feed-blocks for livestock
© Dinesh Valke/Flickr
In dryland Kenya, farmers are using pods from the invasive weed, Prosopis juliflora, to make a high energy livestock feed. The plant can survive intensely dry weather, potentially providing a supplementary feed source, rich in carbohydrate and protein, when other grazing is limited. Communities are now mobilising on a large scale to collect and process the pods and market them. Geoffrey Onditi sees the feed-block making process in action and talks to some of those involved.
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