Interventions have addressed short-run productivity improvements or service delivery per se with no
consideration of root causes of the market failures such as coordination failure, misaligned incentives,
inadequate investment in quality and cold chain requirements, and weakly developed support markets
(finance, extension, input distribution). A Gap Analysis from the perspective of Market Systems
Development (MSD) is therefore called for to:
• Record current and past interventions along the dairy value chain, such as Heifer Kenya, other
development organizations, government, and donor activities.
• Record systemic weaknesses that persist unchecked in the face of these interventions e.g., costs of
production, milk quality and safety issues, dominance of informal market channels, and weak
farmer organization governance.
• Record exclusions, highlighting the low levels of participation of women, youth, and pastoralist
households in formal dairy markets.
• Provide evidence-based recommendations to guide future investment and programming so
interventions shift from symptom-solving to fixing root causes of underperformance.
• Facilitate coordination and alignment among stakeholders like government, private sector, farmer
cooperatives, NGOs, and donors among others, on a shared systemic change agenda.
Of particular significance, this analysis will play a key role in the operationalization of Heifer
International’s Practice for Change (P4C) Signature Framework in Kenya. P4C targets system change
by empowering smallholder farmers to participate in and benefit from sustainable and inclusive market
systems. By identifying gaps within current dairy interventions and locations of systemic leverage
points, this analysis will serve as evidence of action for coordinating forthcoming programming with
P4C’s pillars of scaling farmer-owned businesses, creating ecosystems, scaling climate-smart practices,
and inclusive women’s and youth engagement.
Since 1944, Heifer International has worked with over 52 million people worldwide to end hunger and
poverty in a sustainable manner. Working with rural communities in 19 countries across Africa, Asia,
and the Americas, including the United States, Heifer International supports farmers and local food
producers in strengthening local economies and building secure livelihoods that provide a living
income.
In Kenya, where Heifer began operations in 1981, the organization has supported more than 682,000
families across dairy and poultry value chains, and most recently red meat value chain. Heifer Kenya’s
current seven-year Signature program, Practice for Change (P4C), aims to accelerate 625,000 farming
households toward a sustainable living income through market-based interventions in poultry, dairy,
beef, and horticulture by the end of 2032. P4C seeks to achieve this through partnering with private
sector, government, development agencies, and community organizations to create thriving, resilient
farming households, with a focus on improved value chain competitiveness, stronger farmer
organizations, increased incomes for women and youth, market efficiency, environmental
sustainability, and food and nutrition security. Key thematic focus areas of P4C are access to innovative
finance, technology and innovation, gender inclusion, youth empowerment, and climate resilience.
