Abstract:
This study was conducted in Hai District, Kilimanjaro Region in order to determine the
impact of milk production on rural livelihood. Specifically the study aimed to (i) determine
levels of milk production among small scale dairy farmers (ii) explore market outlets of
milk produced by dairy cattle keepers and (iii) assess impact of milk production on
livelihoods. The study used both primary and secondary data. Primary data were collected
from household survey in the study area using structured questionnaires. The collected
secondary data included records of milk production, marketing and consumption. These
were obtained from the District Livestock Development Office and from dairy cooperative
office. Data were coded, entered and analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social
Sciences (SPSS) version 16 computer program. Descriptive statistics particularly
frequencies and percentages were deployed in the analysis. Results of the study as per
objective shows that, annual milk production ranged from a minimum of 600 litres per cow
per year to a maximum of 3600 liters per cow per year. Furthermore, the result revealed
that 37.1% of the respondents sold their milk to restaurant owners where 35.3% sold their
milk to the dairy cooperative milk collection centers. Others sold their milk to milk vendor
(19%), schools (6%) and 1.7% of them sold milk to other outlets including kiosk.
Moreover, the study also showed that dairy production contributed directly to food security
through consumption of milk and use of milk income to purchase food and household
assets. It is therefore recommended that deliberate efforts should be made to promote small
scale dairy cattle production. Furthermore, it is recommended that reliable market be
provided to milk producer in order to encourage the smallholder farmers to increase milk
production.
