Milk is an essential food in the nutrition and diet of many Kenyans. Dominance of indigenous breed hampers every effort to increase milk productivity as a major way for enhancing nutritional status of poor households, especially those in rural areas. In this study, factors influencing dairy cattle adoption behavior among smallholder farmers in rural Kenya were analyzed. The data comprised of 251 cattle farmers and were analyzed with probit regression. Results show that average cattle owned slightly increased over the years in both local and dairy breeds. Probit regression results showed that marginal parameters of residence in Busia district (-0.4019), being married (0.2592), number of boys (0.0788), number of cattle (-0.1194) and having food problem (-0.3160) were statistically significant (p<0.05). It was concluded that although dairy cattle offer opportunities to increase milk productivity in rural Kenya, adoption is still low. Also, integrated efforts to reduce persistent hunger and poverty among smallholder farmers in rural Kenya will go a long way in enhancing households' adoption decision.
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