Economic and Health Benefits of Breastfeeding: A Review

The aim of this paper is to review the health, economic and other benefits of breastfeeding to the children, mother, community and country. The review was undertaken by using different tools as sources of information for gathering ideas on issues of economic, health and social benefits of breastfeeding. Report indicated that Sub-optimum breastfeeding, especially non-exclusive breastfeeding in the first 6 months of life, results in 1.4 million deaths and 10% of disease burden in children younger than 5 years. Breastfeeding for a period of two years is more cost-effective than the alternative of having to purchase artificial or animal milk, which contributes to about 15%-20% of the health budget in some countries. Breastfeeding lead to a 13% reduction in deaths of children under five if infants were exclusively breastfed for 6 months and continued to be breastfed up to two years. Optimal breastfeeding of children under two years of age has the potential to prevent 1.4 million deaths in children under five in the developing world annually. As economic impact of breastfeeding for three illnesses otitis media, gastroenteritis, and NEC found that increasing the proportion of children who were breastfed and would have saved an estimated $3.6 billion annually interms of both direct and indirect costs. Keywords: breastfeeding, breast milk, economic, social, benefit

Assessment of the Status of Hides and Skins Production, Opportunities and Constraints in Wolaita Zone, Southern Ethiopia

The study was conducted at Wolaita Zone, Southern Ethiopia with the objective of evaluating the status of hides and skins production, opportunities and identifying major problems of hides and skins production and preservation. Multi-stage sampling was employed for all sampling procedures. Three districts were purposively selected based on livestock population, intensity of fattening, degree of slaughtering frequency and number of hide and skin warehouses. From each district, three kebeles were selected randomly. From the selected kebeles, 135 households were selected randomly for interview. Most of the respondents (91%), slaughter their animals in backyard or homesteads during different social ceremonies and religious holidays. The rest have an experience of slaughtering animals in both rural slaughter slabs as well as in their backyards. Majority of the households indicated that they practice slaughtering of large animals during festivals in group. Upon slaughtering, the use of appropriate knife for different slaughtering purposes was not common. According to the survey result, majority of the respondents (72%), use improper knives for ripping and flaying which clearly indicates that there was a probability of flay cuts as defects during slaughtering. Only 27.4 percent of the respondents declared that they have slaughter slabs in their locality and from these 78 percent responded that the slaughter slabs were insufficient and poorly designed. Similar response was also reported by the butchers that the design of slaughtering houses was poor and they were insufficient. Hoisting slaughtered animals for proper bleeding is rarely practiced in the study area. Different types of hide and skin preservation techniques were used by farmers, from which ground drying (57%) and smoking (24%) were common. The main constraints adversely affecting the production and utilization of hides and skins were insufficient slaughtering houses and facilities, poor slaughtering system, poor animal husbandry practices and lack of training on production and marketing of hides and skins with their decreasing index values of 0.208, 0.171, 0.153 and 0.136, respectively. Market access, livestock population and good habit of meat consumption were the first three primary opportunities with index values of 0.285, 0.207 and 0.204 respectively. Training should be given for hide and skin producers as well as collectors for quality hide and skin production and timely collection to reduce spoilage. Keywords: Constraints, Hide and Skin, Index, Preservation, Opportunities

Evaluation of Proximate Composition and Handling Practices of Raw Milk at Different Points of Oromia Regional State

The study was conducted  at different critical points of Oromia special zone surrounding Finfine, Sebeta, Sululta and Holeta districts with the objective of assessing raw milk gross nutrient composition and its handling practices at different critical points of milk marketing chain. Multi-stage purposive sampling method was used to conduct proximate composition and handling practices of raw milk from different critical points from Finfine surrounding districts of Oromia. A total of 102 milk producing farmers at Holeta, Sebeta and Sululta districts were selected by using multi-stage purposive sampling method. A total of 60 raw milk samples were collected hygienically from each presumed critical points and examined for their gross nutrient composition. The channels in marketing of milk involved in this area include direct sellers, milk collection centers, informal merchants, milk cooperative unions, hotels, dairy product processing plants and retail shops. However, majority of the participants brought their milk to the collection center and private dairy processing plants. About 26.5, 6.9, 46.1, 2.9 and 17.6% of the participants  use cold pipe water, warm river water, warm pipe, cold river water and cold well water, respectively for washing udder and teat before milking in the whole study site. About 98, 97.1 and 94.15% of the participants in the study sites used plastic utensils for milking, storing before transportation and transporting milk. Only 77.2% of the study participants wash their hands before milking in all the study sites. The protein content of milk sample ranged from 3.12 to 2.39, 3.29 to 2.70 and 3.04 to 3.08% at farmer and retail level of Sebeta, Holeta and Sululta, respectively. Sample collected from Sululta site had showed the highest protein content than other sites.Whereas, fat content of milk sample ranged from 4.47 to 3.76, 4.05 to 3.24 and 3.58 to 4.37 % from farmer and retail shop of Sebeta, Holeta and Sululta, respectively. Besides, protein and fat have showed a significant difference among critical points(p<0.05). Besides, The mean total solid content of present study revealed that it ranged from 9.8 to 13.5% in Sululta collection center and Sebeta farmers respectively. The mean value of  mineral element Fe ranged from 0.068 to 0.071, 0.082 to 0.060 and  0.072 to 0.072 mg/100gm for samples collected from Sebeta, Holeta and Sululta farmers and retail, respectively. Generally, the present study was revealed that milk samples contained unhygienic and poor handling practices and considered as substandard which will result in public health hazard to the consumer. Therefore, intensive study on adequate handling of  milk in the study sites should be conducted to assure safety and quality and policies to be set to assure the supply of quality milk in the area. Keywords: Handling practice, Critical points, proximate Composition, nutrient. AAS