Engaging cooperative farmers in agricultural intensification: Case studies on honey, dairy and linseed value chains in Ethiopia

Contains fulltext : 127380.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen, 11 juni 2014Promotor : Ruben, R. Co-promotor : Muradian Sarache, R.P.175 p

Marketing strategy choice and the associated income differentials among smallholder dairy farmers in Ethiopia

This study investigates factors that influence the choice of marketing strategies among dairy farmers in Ethiopia. The farmers used three marketing strategies, namely, milk products marketing (26 per cent), raw milk marketing (59 per cent), and both milk products marketing and raw milk marketing (15 per cent). The results showed that the following factors influenced the probability of choosing a raw milk marketing strategy over milk products marketing: age of the household head, proportion of crossbreed cows owned, total milk produced, distance to the market, income per litre of milk, and cooperative membership. Further analysis revealed that dairy farmers are better off if they utilize the raw milk marketing strategy, which has higher returns. Farmers who relied only on milk products marketing had significantly lower dairy income. It is recommended that tailored efforts are channelled towards improving access to raw milk markets by establishing more milk collection points

Cooperative membership and dairy performance among smallholders in Ethiopia

Contains fulltext : 155638.pdf (publisher's version ) (Closed access)This study assesses the impact of cooperative membership among dairy producers in Selale, Ethiopia. We selected ten impact indicators: proportion of dairy income to total household income, total dairy income, proportion of crossbreed cows to the total number of cows in the herd (indicator of technological innovation), amount of feed bought (another indicator of technological innovation), milk production, milk productivity, commercialization, price per liter of milk, price per kg of butter and the share of milk production that is processed at the household level. In order to minimize the biases that may arise by simply comparing members and non-members, we employed a propensity score matching technique. The empirical analysis shows that cooperatives are strong in facilitating technological transformations and commercialization but weak in offering better prices. These findings suggest structural trade-offs between different domains of cooperatives’ action. Overall, our study concludes that cooperatives can be efficient business institutions to foster rural development and food security.9 p

Knowledge systems and value chain integration: The case of linseed production in Ethiopia

Purpose: This study uses data from a sample of 150 oilseed farming households from Arsi Robe, Ethiopia, to assess the impact of different knowledge bases (education, training and experience) and their interactions on linseed productivity. Methodology: A multiple regression analysis was employed to assess the combined effect of the knowledge bases, factors such as age of the household head, land size, marketing channels and geophysical factors (such as land slope) on linseed productivity. Findings: The findings reveal no differences in productivity between trained and untrained farmers. They further show that training and the interaction between training and experience positively influence productivity. Our findings, however, reveal farmer education to have an inverse yet insignificant effect on productivity. Furthermore, we found that factors such as the slope of the land and the choice of marketing channel also play an important role in influencing productivity. Practical implications: Moving away from the traditional top-down approach could be the answer to avoid a mismatch between the information given by trainers and what the farmers actually need. Theoretical implications: The study used interaction variables of knowledge bases, and attempted to demonstrate the importance of a tacit knowledge base, which is often not well documented and therefore neglected in research. Originality/value: The research demonstrates the combined effects that interactions between several knowledge bases have on the productivity of linseed farmers

Economics of Butchery Waste Management in Metropolitan Port Harcourt, Nigeria

The study analyzed the status of solid waste management in butcheries and their effects on butchery firms’ productivity. It describes their disposal measures/adequacy; their profitability and firm profit determinants. Primary data were obtained from 30 butcheries within Port Harcourt Metropolis. Using a snowball method, thirty five (35) butcheries were identified out of which thirty (30) were selected in a stratified sampling method to cover the two Local Government areas in Port Harcourt Metropolis. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Net Profit, profitability ratios and three functional forms of Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) multiple regression models. The study found that there were three major disposal measures used by the butcheries: burning, composting, incineration and paying waste authorities to dispose the wastes. The butcheries average profit levels ($15,740.08) were high, efficient with estimated Operating Expense Ratio of 0.37 and very viable with a Net Profit Margin of 50%. The cost of waste handling/disposal for the solid wastes was not a significant factor and depicts market failure. However, the socioeconomic attributes of the butchery operators, especially marital status, household size and working experience that directly affect their profits. It was recommended that authorities and stakeholders should levy tasks for environmental management while the authorities should promote the butchery business as a livelihood source, incentivizing the business owners with better infrastructure, building their capacities. Butchery operators should also be trained to help supply farmers with recycled farm wastes to enhance sustainable development

Collective entrepreneurship and rural development: Comparing two types of producers' organizations in the Ethiopian honey sector

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Improving oxidative stability of soya and sunflower oil using Temnocalyx obovatus extracts

Recently an increasing interest in formulations of medicinal plant origin and other plant additives as antioxidants has been observed in the food market and pharmaceutical fields. This is as a result of the realization that synthetic antioxidants can participate as mutagenic and genotoxic agents. In this study Temnocalyx obovatus extracts were compared with rosemary (Rosmarinus officinallis) and tert- butyl-hydroquinone (TBHQ) as possible antioxidants in sunflower and soya oil. Upon addition of 200 ppm of dried leaf extract, acetone extract yielded protection of the samples against oxidation more efficiently as compared to rosemary, ethanol, methanol and TBHQ extracts added at the same concentration for both peroxide value determinations and Rancimat method. Higher induction periods, 12.45 and 17.17 h were achieved with acetone extracts. Increasing the concentration from 50 to 200 ppm increased the antioxidant effect of the extracts. On analyzing ultra-violet (UV) absorption at 232 nm, acetone extract showed the least absorbance implying greater protection against oil oxidation. Results of the present study are interesting as they may lead to isolation and identification of bioactive compounds present in T. obovatus that can be used to prolong shelf lives in oil based foods which are susceptible to rancidification.Key words: Oxidative stability, Temnocalyx obovatus, peroxidation, antioxidant