Zvinorova Plaxedis Ivy, Halimani Tinyiko Edward, Mano Renneth T, Ngongoni Nobbert Takarwirwa
Department of Paraclinical Veterinary Science, University of Zimbabwe, P. O. MP167, Mt Pleasant, Harare, Zimbabwe.
Trop Anim Health Prod. 2013 Apr;45(4):1007-15. doi: 10.1007/s11250-012-0325-8. Epub 2012 Dec 5.
Viability differences in smallholder dairy farming are a result of differences in access to markets and services. It is hypothesized that innovations that improve productivity and market linkages also improve returns and viability. The viability of smallholder dairying in Wedza was characterised by interviewing 52 households using semi-structured questionnaires. Information on demographics, production, marketing, livestock numbers, assets and constraints was obtained. Farmers were resource-constrained with differences in access to resources. The highly resourced farmers had higher milk output and numbers of livestock. Almost 40 % of the households were female-headed, and these dominated the poor category. Household sizes ranged from 4 to 13 persons. Milk off-take was low (3.7 ± 0.53 l/cow/day), due to various constraints. Only rich farmers had viable enterprises in purely financial terms. Per litre cost of milk was more than selling price (US$0.96) for most farmers except the relatively rich. Operating ratios were 1.7, 0.6, 1.4 and 1.1 for the poor, rich, sub-centre and milk collection centre farmers, respectively. This means incomes from the dairy activities did not cover costs. Sensitivity analysis indicated that increases in total variable costs and labour reduced returns. Milk production and viability were influenced by access to resources and markets.
小农户奶牛养殖的生存能力差异是市场准入和服务差异造成的。据推测，提高生产力和市场联系的创新也能提高回报和生存能力。通过使用半结构化问卷对52户家庭进行访谈，对Wedza小农户奶牛养殖的生存能力进行了描述。获取了关于人口统计学、生产、营销、牲畜数量、资产和制约因素的信息。农民资源有限，获取资源的机会存在差异。资源丰富的农民牛奶产量更高，牲畜数量更多。近40%的家庭由女性当家，这些家庭在贫困类别中占主导地位。家庭规模从4人到13人不等。由于各种制约因素，牛奶收购量较低（3.7±0.53升/头/天）。仅从财务角度来看，只有富裕农民的企业具有生存能力。除了相对富裕的农民外，大多数农民的每升牛奶成本高于售价（0.96美元）。贫困、富裕、分中心和牛奶收集中心的农民的经营比率分别为1.7、0.6、1.4和1.1。这意味着奶牛养殖活动的收入无法覆盖成本。敏感性分析表明，总可变成本和劳动力的增加会降低回报。牛奶生产和生存能力受到资源获取和市场的影响。
