Socio-Economics Determinants of Selection Criteria for East African Zebu Cattle Breeding for Dairy Production: Case of Kitui County, Kenya

East African Zebu (EAZ) cattle play a very important role in the livelihoods of the Arid and the Semi-arid communities. Despite the breed being the most populous, its contribution to the dairy industry is very low. To ensure success of a breeding program for more milk production, there is need to understand how the indigenous farmers select their breeding cows and bulls for more milk production. A study was therefore conducted in Kitui County to determine the farmers’ selection criteria for breeding bulls and cows for more milk production. To determine how farmers, select an animal for breeding, five selection criteria traits for bulls and eight selection criteria for cows were ranked using Friedman non-parametric analysis of variance test and Wilcoxon Test. Multivariate Probit model was used to determine the influence of socio economic factors on bulls and cow selection criteria for EAZ breeding. The mean ranks indicated that the bull’s body frame (5.94), udder shape (6.04), teat size and placement (5.8) for cows were regarded as the most important selection criteria.The Multivariate Probit regression results showed that male farmers had a higher preference for bulls’ body frame than female farmers. The study concluded that selection criteria in breeding bulls and cows are significantly influenced by socio-economic and demographic factors. Key recommendation from the study is to consider farmers’ trait selection criteria in planning and design of a breeding program Keywords : selection criteria, breeding program, East African Zebu DOI : 10.7176/JESD/10-18-06 Publication date :September 30 th 2019