Milk Production, Processing and Marketing Practices in Sebeta Hawas District, Shagar City, Ethiopia

Abstract

The study was conducted to assess milk production, processing and marketing systems in Sebeta Hawas district of Oromia, Ethiopia. A total of 139 randomly selected smallholder farmers were involved in the study from five purposefully selected kebeles of the district. Both primary and secondary data were used for the study. The data collected were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 24 and a z-test was employed to test the difference between rural and urban dairy production systems. Pasture was the major feed source (54.7%) of dairy animals in the district followed by crop residues (25.9%). The majority (69.1%) of the dairy farmers use free grazing while only about 26% practice stall feeding in the district. More than 2/3 (68.3%) of the dairy farmers in rural areas do not produce improved forage for their dairy cattle due to shortage of land (38.3%), shortage of forage seeds and fertilizer (36.2%) and lack of awareness (22.3%) whereas more than half (57.9%) of the dairy producers in urban areas produce improved forage for their dairy cows. Almost all (99.3%) of the milk produced in the study area was traditionally processed using hand churning. Informal marketing was the sole means of dairy products (milk, cheese and butter) marketing. Feed shortage, animal diseases, poor accessibility of AI and poor dairy marketing systems were the major milk production constraints in the study district. Thus, developing improved forage in the areas, introducing milk processing technologies, linking milk producers to formal milk marketing systems, strengthening access to veterinary services and vaccination, improving access to AI services and improving the whole extension systems were recommended to improve milk production, processing and marketing in the study district.