Abstract:
In Mbale Municipality, dairying, which produces 131,128 liters of milk per day, is practiced in the backyard through zero grazing. Poor management practices, majorly as a result of gender irresponsibility, have not enabled the animals to produce to their optimum capacity. However, the extent to which gender irresponsibility is affecting small scale dairy farming in Mbale Municipality is not well known; hence this study. The results will help establish benchmarks which could be used as a package for profitable urban dairy farming in the country. The study, which was conducted in the months of February to April 2014, targeted small scale urban dairy farmers of Wanale division in Mbale Municipality employing a simple random sampling procedure. Both qualitative and quantitative data was collected. The data collected was analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS) version 16. The results were presented in the form of frequency tables and pie charts. The study revealed that the majority (66%) of small scale dairy fanners were males and the rest (34%) females. The males (88%) also controlled most of the land. This exposed the over domineering role of males in the control of household resources. It was established that family labour was more utilized than hired labour. Within the family, the study revealed that both feeding and herding of the dairy cattle was done by the children, followed by men and women in that order. The men of the family, however, dominated watering, milking and milk processing while the women led in selling milk and cleaning bans. From this study, it was concluded that dairying in Wanale Division, Mbale Municipality; was largely run as a family operation where each member contributed to, and benefited from, the different activities of dairying. Not owning assets especially land and animals, has greatly affected the women's active participation in the dairy sector. It is therefore, recommended that gender equality and equity be made the guiding principles in all dairy development strategies. Such strategies should entail providing loans to support small scale dairy farmers in modernizing production and improving post-harvest handling and marketing; facilitating farmers to form co-operatives in order to increase their bargaining power during procurement of inputs and marketing of products; reviewing the delivery of extension services by government to come up with appropriate strategies that will ensure adoption and utilization of appropriate technologies in both rural and urban areas.
