The contribution of small scale dairy farming to household welfare in Bukasakya sub county, Mbale District

Abstract

The study was, conducted in Bukasakya Sub County, Mbale District to study/analyze the contribution of small scale dairy farming to household welfare. The main focus was on identification of the production level of milk from the dairy cows, amount of income earned by the dairy farmers, items on which income from the dairy enterprise is spent, The Data was collected through face to face interviews and personal visits using questionnaires administered on 65 SSDF who were purposively selected. Information was collected on the contribution of the dairy enterprise to the family income, level of education of the respondents, employment status of respondents and the socio economic contribution of small scale dairy farming to household welfare. Analysis of data was carried out using frequency counts and percentages and presented using tables. About 64.6 percent of the respondents were between the age ranges of 30-50 years 67.7 percent were male, 50 percent were married, 64.6 percent had attained education from secondary and above, and 73.9 percent had more than three dairy cattle in their herd, Most of the respondents produced between 5-1O litres of milk per day with majority earned less than 200,000Ushs per month from milk, sale.Income n'QI11 the dairy enterprise was used to meet costs of various items including; buying food, medical school fees, house construction and others. It can therefore be concluded from this study that small-scale dairy farming has a potential of improving the welfare of households. Therefore, the researcher recommends that there .is need to train the SSDF on the management of dairy cattle/farm as a business enterprise, formation of co-operative societies through which they could establish milk collecting centers which could assist them to earn more income and also women should be empowered to start up small scale dairy enterprises.