Determinants of farmers’ access to market for milk in Uganda

Abstract

Market access and participation of smallholder farming has gained priority in the policy agenda of many developing countries as an engine for economic growth. In Uganda, smallholder dairy farming has been adopted as a strategy for the country’s economic transformation through commercialization but efforts to improve dairy market sales have not been successful. Without appropriate interventions, Uganda may fail to take advantage of the anticipated increase in demand for livestock products. A study to analyse determinants of dairy farmers’ market participation was therefore undertaken in Uganda’s three main milk producing regions. Purposive sampling procedures were used to select a study sample of 175 representative dairy farming households, with at least one milking cow based on data derived from the UNPS 2019. Data was analysed by descriptive statistics and Probit econometric model. Results show that milk market entry decision was significantly influenced by improved lactating cows (P≤0.01), number of lactating cows (P≤0.01), milk yield (P≤0.01), access to veterinary services (P≤0.05) and children less than 6 years (P≤0.1). Percentage of milk sales was influenced by number of lactating cows (P≤0.05), improved milking breeds (P≤0.05) and quantity of milk consumed. Two variables critical to policy intervention in enhancing smallholder dairy farmer participation and intensification are number of lactating cows and number of improved lactating cows. Quantity of milk consumed suggests supplementation of milk with other protein foods among dairy farmers in Uganda.