Determinants of Milk Value Addition by Farm Households in Jimma Zone of Southwestern Ethiopia

Abstract

Value addition has a particular importance for dairy producers in that it enables processing into some less perishable products like butter and local cheese. The study was undertaken with the objective of identifying determinants of milk value addition by farm households in Jimma zone of southwestern Ethiopia. Using survey data from 238 dairy households and Tobit regression model, determinants of participation decision and level of participation were analyzed. The result indicated that age, education level of household head, number of children under age of six, access to labour force and extended shelf life were found to be determinant of participation in milk value addition. The finding implies that paying special attention for aged households will have positive effect on participation decision and expanding rural education and arranging mechanism for experience sharing among experienced and younger farmers would have a positive effect. Therefore expanding rural education and arranging social events to share experience among dairy farmers should be encouraged to enhance dairy value addition and providing training on proper management and utilization of labour force and on the way of adding value on their product by extending their shelf life without compromising the quality of the product is important for milk producers.