Tropentag, October 5 - 7, 2004 in Berlin "Rural Poverty Reduction through Research for Development and Transformation"

Comparison of Urban and Peri-Urban Dairying in Awassa, Ethiopia

¹University of Hohenheim, Institute of Animal Production in the Tropics and Subtropics, Germany
²Southern University Awassa, Department of Animal Science, Ethiopia

Abstract

The aim of this study was to compare urban and peri-urban dairy production systems in Ethiopia. Awassa town was compared with its peri-urban area Loke, and the peri-urban areas of two adjoining towns: Leku and Yirg'Alem. One hundred and twenty-four dairy farms were studied comprising 60 farms in urban and 64 in peri-urban areas. The farms were stratified into small (<3 cattle), medium (4-9 cattle) and large (>10 cattle) based on initial survey. Animal production and socio-economic data like milk yield, feed costs, access to markets and milk sales were collected using questionnaire. Eighty crossbred cows (320 udder quarters), 50 from the urban area and 30 from the peri-urban area were selected from 26 farms in urban and 23 farms in two of the peri-urban areas excluding Loke, and tested for mastitis. In addition, 177 cattle were screened for Brucella antibodies in Awassa and Loke. The urban producers spent on average Birr689.59/month on feed, amounting to Birr100.67/cow/month, while their peri-urban counterparts spent Birr97.06 and Birr15.57 respectively. The lactation yield in the urban area was 1489.6l per local cow and 3949.6l per crossbred cow, while in the peri-urban area, the lactation yield were 444.4l and 2596.2l respectively. While the urban producers sold 80% of total milk produced, the peri-urban producers sold only 35%. There was a prevalence of 51% sub-clinical mastitis (SCM) in peri-urban farms which was significantly higher than 39% SCM found in urban farms (P<0.05). There was a prevalence rate of 4% in 102 cattle sampled for Brucella in Loke, while no positive result was found in 75 cattle tested in Awassa. The study showed that there is a considerable potential for dairying in Awassa and its surroundings. Although the peri-urban producers face unavailability of market outlets for selling their milk, they benefit from availability of forage and the cow dung used as manure. Producers in Awassa spent money to get rid of their cow dung, faced shortages in feed, but benefited from nearby milk customers. Improving logistics like transportation and building up organisational links between farmer groups will lead to both production systems benefiting from each other.

Keywords: Brucella antibodies, crossbred cows, lactation yield, peri-urban dairying, sub-clinical mastitis, urban livestock production

Contact Address: Anthony Ike, University of Hohenheim, Institute of Animal Production in the Tropics and Subtropics, Garbenstr.17, 70599 Stuttgart, Germany, e-mail: acikeuni-hohenheim.de