Handling and marketing of dairy products in and around Bahir Dar Milkshed Areas, Ethiopia

Abstract

Abstract. Sisay T, Alemayehu K, Haile M. 2018. Handling and marketing of dairy products in and around Bahir Dar Milkshed Areas, Ethiopia. Trop Drylands 2: 48-58. Despite the great importance of milk in feeding the rural and urban population of Ethiopia, milk handling practices and marketing systems in the country are not well developed. This study was conducted to assess handling, processing and marketing of milk and milk products using 180 sample households in the formal survey with a pre-tested structured questionnaire. Market channels and chains of milk and milk products were described using market data from sample households, key informants and sale records. Overall, 45.6% of the sample households supplied milk for market with the highest in Bahir Dar City, followed by Tis Abay and lowest proportion was in Sebatamit rural kebele. Overall, the average amount of milk daily supplied to market was 6.6 liters/household and the figure in Bahir Dar City, Sebatamit and Tis Abay rural kebeles were 9.7, 5.6, and 2.33 liters, respectively. Daily milk was delivered through cooperative and other sale outlets as farm gate, customers` gate on delivery system and farm shop. Season, location and interaction of these factors had highly significant (P ? 0.01) effects on volume of milk monthly collected at cooperatives. Different market channels, outlets, and agents were identified for various dairy products; butter being with the longest channel, followed by marketing of milk and low-fat milk/semi-skim milk to pass through about three channels. Milk supplied to market was generally constrained by feed shortage, lack of improved breed, unreliable milk market, unattractive price and producers` limited awareness. Dairy cooperatives generally created milk market outlets and supplied various processed milk products to market; of which low-fat milk (semi-skim milk) was sold in its fresh state which might be used as a less expensive product. Hence, the paramount role of the cooperatives in the area is to strengthen the linkage between producers and consumers, which in turn provides reliable milk market and benefits producers from market opportunity of dairying.