2025/08/06 by GEMECHIS AMENTE
paper · doi:10.20372/nadre:15981
ADVISOR: Dr. Tujuba Jergefa (Assistant Professor, ABSTRACT The majority of Ethiopia's dairy production is a smallholder subsistence sector; there are very few small and medium-sized commercial dairy farms. The main objectives of the study was to investigate the opportunities and constraints of dairy cattle milk production, processing and marketing system in Wayu Tuka districts of East Wallaga Zone Western Ethiopia from September 2022 to November 2023.All households with lactating cows during the study period made up the study population. A cross-sectional study across selected kebele of Wayu Tuka district (Warra Babo, Migna Kura and Gute Badiyya) was conducted Based on dairy cattle potential compared with other kebeles of the district. The study's sample size consisted of 100 households that were chosen through a purposive sampling technique. Questionnaires, interviews, and group discussions were the methods used to gather data from primary and secondary sources. After being organized up, verified, and stored in Microsoft Excel, the gathered data was imported intothe SPSS version 20 software for analysis. The results of the study showed that overall average dairy cow’s size of the participants was 2.77±1.441 heads per household. Participants were rearing animals for milk production system (25.0%) for draught purposes (36.0%), and source of income (2.0%). The results of the questionnaire survey indicated that more than half (52.0%) of household’s use improved feed for their cattle for both local and cross breeds. Every respondent stated that they experienced trouble with milk and milk product deterioration and the reasons were: Lack of market (75.0%), lack of equipment (19.0%) and Poor conditions of handling and storage (6.0%). Whole milk to fermented milk, fermented milk to butter and butter milk, and boiling butter milk to cheese were dairy products that were commonly processed at the home level. In the WayuTuka district, milk and butter were sold in an entirely informal manner. The product's selling price is determined jointly by producers and buyers. Among households selling raw milk 74% and 18% of the households sold directly to local market and consumers, respectively. The present price of raw milk among the selected kebeles was 35 ETB birr per liter. Generally, although a greater number of farmers in the area are interested in producing dairy products, the growth of dairy cow production in the area is probablygoing to be influenced by the increasing revenue from crop production. Thus, it is important to provide milk producers with robust extension services that include better dairy technologies, better feeding practices, and higher-quality crop residues such as urea straw treatment. Key Words: Constraints, Milk production, Marketing, Opportunities, Processing