The impact of education and experience on profit of smallholder dairy farming at Batu City of Malang Raya, Indonesia

The research was conducted at Batu, City, Malang Raya of Indonesia. Study addressed to examine the farmer characteristics, dairy farming income, and the factors influencing on profit. The case study applied multistage sampling method to select 34 representative farmers which divided into three strata namely, stratum-1 (rearing <4 Animal Units), stratum-2 (owning 4-8 AU), and stratum-3 (controlling >8 AU). Primary data collection used survey method with structured questionnaire, whereas secondary data were available in related institutions and sources. Data analysis implemented descriptive and multiple regression technique. Results confirmed that farmers has experienced about 6-10 years in raising dairy farming and they has secondary school education. The profitable dairy farming was smallholder dairy farming that rearing more than 8 AU with daily income per Animal Unit of IDR 64,554 and structured with IDR 11,131 of revenue and IDR 47,577 of production cost. Farmer’s experience was positively explaining the smallholder dairy profit, and the high school education attainment was more likely to increase venture’s income. The farm return has positive and strong relationships with the more number of dairy cattle owned.

The Carbon Footprint Of Smallholder Dairy Farming In Sub-Saharan Africa: A Review

Agriculture sector is one of major sources of income and livelihood to many populations of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Over the past years animal production has been playing a vital role not only in generating revenues to farmers but also as a source of high qualitative proteins and essential micronutrients (i.e iron, zinc and vitamins) and boosting the agricultural productivity due to its importance in farmyards organic fertilization (i.e manure). Livestock production and Milk market in SSA are dominated by smallholder dairy farming (SDF) which employ nearly 70% of all livestock farmers. Despite its positive impact on people and SSA countries’ economy, SDF has been the major fastest growing agricultural contributors of GHG emissions such as CH4, N2O and CO2 (i.e 9t CO2e per tonne of milk; the highest in the world compared to other regions) thus accelerating global warming effect.Although several articles have investigated the impacts of livestock production on climate change, to the best of our knowledge the existing literature doesn’t contain any studies that provide insight review of smallholder dairy farming’s carbon footprint (CF) in SSA. This review paper is therefore aimed at critical analysis of current knowledge in terms of CF of smallholder dairy farming in SSA and effective mitigation strategies (dietary, manure and animal management) recently proposed to reduce CH4 and N2O emissions from ruminants. SSA was selected because of rapid rise of SDF in the region therefore it is expected to rapidly increase its GHG emissions in future if no sustainable measures are taken.The critical analysis, what is known and gaps in SDF from this review will help to inform the farmers, researchers, decision and policy makers interested in GHG emissions thus to provide the next direction in research and improvement of the sector for sustainability. Capacity building for raising awareness among farmers was identified as paramount to better understand the issue and the options to mitigate emissions on-farm. As longer as adaptation and mitigation strategies become paramount on national and regional agenda, SDF will make significant contribution to economies, improved livelihood and become sustainable livestock production systems in SSA at large.

Communal Use of Breeding Bulls on Bull Stations, Natural Mating and Artificial Insemination in Ethiopian Smallholder Dairy Farming Systems

The study was carried out to characterize Ethiopian smallholder farmers’ practice and indigenous knowledge on bull station service and adoption of different mating systems. A total of 62 respondents were selected from the smallholder dairy farming communities representing three districts in the Oromia region. A multistage sampling procedure was used to select sampling areas and respondents. A standardized questionnaire was used to collect qualitative and quantitative data using person to person interview. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistical procedures of SPSS. According to the findings of the study, Ethiopian smallholder dairy farmers are using both bull service and artificial insemination for dairy cattle breeding. The bulls used for mating are either those bulls kept for communal use at bull stations or bulls belong to individual farmers. The sources of all those bulls were research centers (15.5%), NGOs (37.5%), cooperatives (7.8%), born and grown at farmers’ own farms (10%) and other sources (29.2%). About 79% of the interviewed respondents were participants of bull station service and above 63% of them started to participate in less than a decade ago. In bull station, one bull did serve 3 to 30 females per week. In addition to the bull service, considerable numbers of farmers were using artificial insemination. The study revealed that both natural mating and artificial insemination methods are acceptable as appropriate mating systems and have their own advantage and disadvantages. So, bull service can be further adopted as an option for improving dairy production and productivity at smallholder farmers’ level particularly in areas where there is limited access for an efficient AI service. The study provided valuable information that can support the importance of using bull station services and adopt different mating systems to improve dairy cattle production and productivity in smallholder dairy farming systems in Ethiopia.