Ethiopia possesses the largest livestock population in Africa. Estimates for rural sedentary and pastoral areas indicate that the country has about 70.3 million  heads  of cattle, 42.9 million sheep, 52.5 million goats, and 8.1 million camels (CSA, 2020/21). The livestock sector contributes to about  15  to  16%  of  the  gross  domestic product, and 35 to 49% of agricultural gross domestic product, excluding the values of draught power, transport and manure, and contributes to the livelihoods of about 37 to 87% of the Ethiopian population (Ayele et al., 2003).

A study conducted by IGAD showed that the value of the animal draught power input into arable production is about a quarter (26.4%) of the value of annual crop production, and if the value of draught power services is included, the sector contributes up to 45% of agricultural gross domestic product (Behnke and Metaferia, 2011).

In Ethiopia, dairy production heavily depends on indigenous unimproved cattle, goats, camels, and sheep where the contribution of cattle is the largest (65%) (CSA, 2020/21). Despite the potential for dairy development, productivity of indigenous livestock genetic resources in general is low, and the direct contribution it makes to the national economy is limited. A recent report by CSA (2020/21) indicated that the total production of cow milk is about 4.7 billion liters, and this translates to an average daily milk production/cow of only 1.48 liters/day. As a result, the per capita milk consumption of the country is about 20 kg/year (MoA, 2012), which is much lower than that of Africa (27 kg/year) and the world 100 kg/year (CSA, 2014/2015). 

Sidama is one of the ten national regional states established recently. The major farming system in this region is livestock-crop mixed system where cattle, enset (Ensete ventricosum) and coffee are the dominant agricultural commodities. Bona Zuria, one of the woredas in this region, is consistently surplus agricultural products producing district in Sidama region (Kettema, 2013). It is believed to have high potential for dairy, which has been identified by the stakeholders as a priority commodity in the district. There is also an increasing demand for milk because of urbanization, increasing population growth and favorable milk consumption culture in the area. Small-scale enset based dairy farming is the predominant production system in the mid to highlands of Bona (CSA, 2009). However, consistent to other parts of the country, the production and productivity and income generated from dairy sector is disproportionately low. It is, therefore, imperative to assess the challenges and constraints hindering dairy development and marketing in the area. Identifying the challenges and opportunities for the success of the milk enterprises in the district is crucial. Therefore, this study was, undertaken to characterize dairy production and marketing systems and identify major constraints/challenges hindering dairy development in the study area.

The objectives of this study, therefore, were:

1. To characterize dairy production systems, and identify major challenges and opportunities of dairy production in Bona Zuria district.

2. To assess milk marketing systems, and identify major constraints and opportunities of milk marketing in the area.

Description of the study area

This study was conducted in Bona Zuria district of Sidama National Regional State. Bona Zuria is located at 127 km east of Hawassa city, the capital of the region. The woreda lies within the Rift Valley, with altitudes ranging from 1700 to 2400 m above sea level. It receives an annual rainfall of 700 to 950 mm, and has an annual temperature range from 11to 22°C.The study woreda has a total area of 33,720 ha of land. The total population of the study woreda is 121,236 of which 61,001 are male and 60,235 are female (CSA, 2007). The woreda comprises 28 kebele administrations of which 7 kebeles are urban and peri-urban, while 21 kebeles are rural. More than 90% of the population earns their living from agriculture and livestock raring and the rest (less than 10%) earn a living from petty trade and other livelihood activities. There are two cropping seasons.  These are Belg (from February to May) and Maher (from June to September).The kebeles in the woreda are categorized as Woinadega (89%) and Dega (11%).  Enset, maize, teff and haricot bean are the major crops in the Woreda while wheat, barley, sweet potato and sugar cane are grown in small amounts and banana, avocado and potato are grown in a very small amount. Coffee and chat are the major cash crops grown in the woreda.

Assessment of milk production and marketing

Multistage stratified sampling technique was used to select target groups. Accordingly, Bona woreda was selected based on its potential for production. The Woreda was stratified into two production sub-systems based on its distance from the woreda town, market orientation, improved breed availability, and production and consumption systems. These were urban/peri-urban and rural production systems. The total number of kebeles in urban/peri-urban and rural dairy production system in the Woreda was 7 and 21, respectively. About 20% of these PAs (n=6) (two from urban/peri-urban and four from rural kebeles) were selected from both production systems for this study. For household survey, the number of households selected from each kebele was proportional to size (about 10% of the total households were selected randomly from a list of farmers registered as milk producers of the respective kebeles) of which 40 to 50% were females (both female headed households and women’s within male headed households). The total number of households interviewed for this study was 150 (25 per kebele). The households were selected using random sampling method. The target sampling population was defined as all households in the study area who have dairy cattle and produce milk for home consumption or for market.

Data collection

Types and source of data

This study used both qualitative and quantitative data collected from primary and secondary sources. Primary data was collected through focus group discussions, household survey and field measurement from sample respondents (from urban/peri-urban and rural milk producer households) and key informant interviews who had better knowledge and skill on the subject. Secondary data was collected from woreda office of agriculture, office of marketing, rural job opportunity creation office, gender office and other relevant institutions. Pertinent information was also gathered from research reports, books, internet sources, government publications, journals etc. Data on the first part of the study (assessment of milk production   and   marketing,  and  identification  of  challenges  and constraints) were collected using focus group discussion, key informants interview and household survey.

Focus group discussion

Focus group discussion (FGD) was undertaken in each of the six selected kebeles to discuss on the dairy production practices and marketing systems, and major challenges/constraints and opportunities for dairy development in the area.  The discussion was based on the checklist and facilitated by researchers. There were six FGDs (one per kebele) and the number of participants per FGD was 12. The outcome of the FGD also enabled to refine the questionnaire to be used for household survey.

Key informant interview

Key informant interview was conducted to gather relevant information from those who were knowledgeable and have better experience in the subject. The interview also extended to value chain actors and service providers such as traders, processors, transporters, input suppliers, service providers and others who contribute to dairy value chain in the area.

Household survey

The questionnaire was used to collect primary data from selected respondents. The questionnaires were pre-tested and essential amendments were made. The questionnaires were edited for its validity, consistency and clarity based on a pre-test result. The following data was collected through the questionnaires:-livestock species, type and number by physiological stage, age and sex; feed resources, feeding calendar, reproduction and management; artificial insemination; health and breed improvement practices and challenges, milk and milking practices; available local milk breed productivity and livestock disease incidences of the study area, handling, processing, consumption and marketing of milk and milk products, dairy cattle housing, manure managements, type of dairy extension service they are getting, and major constraints and opportunities for milk production and marketing systems were addressed in the questionnaire.

Statistical analysis

All the data collected were organized with the use of MS-Excels and analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) (version 20). Descriptive statistics such as means, percentages, standard error of mean and frequency distribution was employed for presentation of the data obtained from the household survey.

Socio-economic characteristics of households

Household characteristics

In the study area about 84% of the sampled respondents were males while the remaining 16% were females. The overall mean family size (Mean ± SE) as well as average age (mean ± SE) of respondents in the studied households was 5.96 ± 0.23 persons and 43.03 ± 0.66 years, respectively.  The  highest  mean  family  size  was found in rural (7.03 ±0.26 persons) as compared to urban/peri-urban (3.82 ± 0.27 persons). There was no significant variation in respondent’s age found in rural (42.90 ± 0.82 years) and that of urban/peri-urban dairy production system (3.82 ± 0.27 years). The overall proportion of illiterate, elementary school and high school level of farmers was 4.6, 53.4 and 19.3%, respectively (Table 1).

Land holding per households

The overall mean crop land, grazing land, forage land and wood land holding per household in the study area were 0.81, 0.48, 0.09 and 0.06 ha, respectively (Table 2). Total land holding per household in urban/peri-urban (0.68 ha) and rural (1.73 ha) production systems were significantly different (P<0.05).

Livestock holding per household

The livestock species kept in the area include cattle, poultry, small ruminants and equine. Cattle are the dominant livestock type in the study area. The overall mean numbers of local and crossbred cattle in the study area was 4.14 and 2.96 tropical livestock unit (TLU) per household, respectively. The total livestock holding per household in urban/peri-urban and rural production systems was 8.02 and 8.13 TLU, respectively (Table 3).

Farming activity of the respondent households

Majority of the respondents were primarily involved in milk production (78%) followed by poultry production (14.7%) and small ruminant production (7.3%). The primary sources of livelihood of the farmers in the study area are given in Table 4. The majority of farmers (57.7%) reported livestock and crop production as the most important source for their livelihood followed by crop, livestock and off-farm activities (12.3%), livestock and off-farm activities (11.6%), livestock production only (6.7%), crop and off-farm activities (3.8%), and crop production only (7.9%).

Dairy cattle husbandry practices

Involvement of family members in milk production

Milk production activities in the study area were done by both male and female members of the family and children above six years of age (Table 5). Cattle herding and feeding is mostly undertaken by boys and girls between 6 and 14 years of age. About 15 and 3.7% of the boys in the age range of 5 to 10 years were involved in cattle herding     and      feeding,    respectively.   Milking,    milk processing, cleaning and selling of milk and butter is performed by adult male and female. All cows are hand milked, and milking of  cows  is  mostly (70.9%)  done  by women. However, men milk the cows when the wife is not around. On the other hand, women are solely responsible for milk processing, barn cleaning and sale of milk and milk products. Men have greater contribution in breeding decision. Processing of the sour milk into butter is done by the wife (80.8%) and/or daughters and in few cases by hired labor (2.7%). As long as there is sufficient family labor, hired labor is kept to the minimal.

Feed resources

This study showed that the major sources of feed for livestock in the study area were grazing on natural pasture (57.5%), crop-residues (26.3%), and crop-aftermaths (16.2%). According to the respondents, livestock production system in Bona district is heavily dependent on grazing from natural pasture and crop stubble. These feed resources are generally poor in quality and their productivity and supply is seasonal, particularly a critical problem during the dry season.

Feeding calendar

Feeding calendar of the study area is  shown  in  Table 6.

The major feed resources from October to February were cereal residues, Enset leaf and after math grazing, while it was grazing during the other months (February to September). However, about 53.3% of the respondents reported that they face feed shortage mainly during the dry season (October to January) due to poor availability of feed from the grazing land. On the other side, about 34% of the sampled households reported that they face feed shortage from February to September, while about 12.7% reported that they face feed shortage year round. The farmers strategies used to cope with the feed shortage in the months were supplementing livestock with any available dry crop residues and Enset leaves, sugar cane and banana residues.

Major constraints of dairy development

The major constraints limited dairy productions according to the perception of sampled households are presented in Table 7. Thus, shortage of feed followed by low production capacity of indigenous cattle was the major constraints  across all the production systems considered in the woreda.

Since feed shortage was reported to be the leading constraint in the area (Table 7), effort was made to further assess the root cause of the problem by feed type; viz, forage, agro-industrial by-products and crop residues (Table 8). Accordingly, shortage of land due to increasing population pressure (43.3%), lack of access for forage seed (26.7%) and lack of awareness on improved forage production (22%) were the major challenges in the order of priority.  On the other hand, high price (34.7%), limited access (28.7%) and lack of awareness were the major problems limited agro-industrial by product utilization in the study area. The major challenges limited crop residue availability in the study area were shortage of cereal crop production as the major crops grown in the area are perennials such as enset and coffee (78%), and multiple use of the available crop residues (22%).

Cattle housing systems

According to the survey result, majority of the sampled households from urban/peri-urban system keep their cattle in separate house (80%) while about 68% of the sampled households in the rural production system share their house with cattle. Besides, unlike urban/peri-urban system, about 32% of the households in the rural production system also house their cattle in corral, while about  52%  of   the   households  keep  their  dairy  cattle within family house (Table 9). Cattle houses in rural areas were constructed from locally available materials, mainly grasses and woods. The floor of livestock houses were made of earthen material and house was roofed temporarily using grasses. Sampled households in the study area indicated that cattle dung was disposed from the house using hired labor or family members. On the other side, calves and small ruminants were housed separately.

Reproductive and productive performances of cows

The average ages at first service of local and crossbred heifers were 44 and 26.98 months, respectively. The average age at first calving of local and crossbred heifers was 53.98 and 36.98 months, respectively. The average calving intervals of local and crossbred cows were 25.88 and 16.04 months. The average lactation lengths of local and crossbred cows were 8.90 and 10 months, respectively (Table 10).

The mean daily milk yields of local and crossbred cows, according to the perception of sampled households, in the study area were 1.65 and 4.23 liter/day, respectively.

Dairy cattle breeding and challenges limiting AI service delivery 

The  major   cattle   breeds  used  in  the  study  area  are indigenous cattle (highland zebu), crossbreds of indigenous and Jersey, and crossbreds of indigenous and Holstein Friesian.  Two  types  of  breeding  methods (natural mating using bulls and artificial insemination) were reported in the study area. Both free mating and controlled  mating  using bulls  were also practiced. About 25.3, 32.5 and 42.2% of respondent in the study area use artificial insemination (AI), bull service, and both AI and bull service for dairy cattle breeding, respectively. Lack of access to AI, shortage of liquid nitrogen and semen, and lack of skilled AI technicians were ranked as first, second and third important constraints limited AI service delivery across both production systems in the study area (Table 11).

Major cattle diseases and animal health service-related challenges

The major cattle diseases prevailing in the study area, according to the respondents, were respiratory diseases, pasteurellosis, skin disease, tuberculosis, blackleg, and foot and mouth disease. Consistent with this, the major challenges limiting access to animal health service delivery in the study area were shortage of veterinary drugs (34.7%) followed by lack of veterinary laboratory services (20.7%) and lack of timely vaccination (13.3%) (Table 12). In the study area, animal health service was provided mainly by government (51.2%) followed by NGOs (13.4%) and private sector (6.1%).

Marketing of dairy products

Dairy producers in the study area sell dairy products to consumers, retailers, and traders. According to sampled respondents, the major milk (68%) and butter (79.3%) buyers were consumers (Table 13). The reported modes of payment for milk and butter purchase were cash (88.7%). On the other hand, the dominant outlet for milk and butter in the study area was market center (76-77.3%) followed by door-to-door delivery (16.7 to 22.7%)

Milk and butter marketing constraints

Among all the constraints of milk and butter  marketing  in the study area lack of awareness related to milk and milk product marketing, distance to marketing points and adulteration of milk and butter were considered as the major problems ranked first, second and third by households in urban/peri-urban and rural production systems with different index values, respectively (Table 14).

Household characteristics

The average household size observed in this study was smaller than 7.71 persons per family reported for Mecha and Bahir Dar Zuria districts  (Asaminew, 2007) and 8.73 persons per household reported for household in Bale highlands (Solomon, 2004). In contrast, the present finding was nearest to 6.621 reported for Meiso district, Eastern Ethiopia (Kedija, 2008).

Education is an important entry point for empowerment of rural communities and an instrument to sustain development. In this context, educational level of the farming households may have significant importance in identifying and determining the type of development and extension service approaches. The role of education is obvious in affecting household income, adopting technologies, demography, health, and as a whole the socio-economic status of the family as well (Kerealem, 2005). The majority of urban/peri-urban and rural dairy producer household heads were literate with educational level ranging from elementary school up to high school. The results in general indicate that most of dairy cattle owners in the study area were literate, indicating that with good extension and training program they can improve their dairy production and marketing systems which are mainly based on traditional system currently.

Land and livestock holding

The overall mean land holding size per households in the study area was 1.38 ha (0.68 ha for urban/peri-urban and 1.73 ha for rural production systems), which is lower than the national average land holding size of 1.77 ha (CSA, 2013/2014). It is also less than the land holdings of 2.0 to 5 ha for 32.6 and 16.2% of the smaller farmers in the country and SNNPRS, respectively (CACC, 2003) and greater than 1.1 ha in Shashemene-Dilla area (Sintayehu et al., 2008). Low land holding  has  negative implications on household income and livestock production. It was also revealed that 93% of the total cattle population was local zebu cows, which is different from what was reported (99.5%) by Fiseha (2009) in the Bure district. The average number of cattle in the current study is smaller than that reported by Dawit (2013) reported for Adami Tulu Jiddo Kombolcha (8.27 TLU cattle).

Dairy cattle husbandry practices

Involvement of family members in milk production

This study demonstrated that sampled household members participated in various dairy cattle management practices in the studied area. The selling and purchasing of cattle was mostly the responsibility of males commonly older than 15 years of age. This group was also responsible for breeding, healthcare and feeding activities whereas their female counterparts were responsible for milking, making and selling dairy products and feeding cattle. Males and females under 15 years of age were given responsibilities mainly for feeding. Young females were also involved in helping older women in dairying activities. These findings are in agreement with those of Asfaw (2009) who reported that most of the time females are responsible for dairy farm operations such as milking cows, cleaning of milk containers, milk storing and preserving.

Feed resource

Livestock feeds are the major inputs of milk production (Sintayehu et al., 2008). This study also indicated that the major sources of feed for livestock in the study area were natural pasture, crop-residues and crop-aftermaths. Consistent with this finding, Azage et al. (2013) reported that natural pasture (grazing) and crop residues are the major feed resources used as a basal diet for dairy production in rural and peri-urban dairy systems. Tolera et al. (2012) also indicated that natural pasture and crop residue to be the major feed resources for highlands of Ethiopia. Crop residues, natural pasture and aftermath grazing were the major feed resources for dry season, in their descending order. Currently, with the rapid increase in human population and increasing demand for food, grazing lands are steadily shrinking due to the conversion of grazing lands to crop-lands, and are restricted to areas that have little value of farming potential. Agro-industrial by-products are rarely used with the exception of those milk producers who keep crossbred cows. This finding is in line with the report of Asaminew (2007) and Seyoum et al. (2007), who indicated that the major basal feed resources for cattle in Bahir Dar and Mecha districts and the highlands of Ethiopia, respectively, are natural pasture, crop residue and stubble grazing. Tethering of cattle   in    the   homestead   and   nearby   farmlands   is practiced to take advantage of fertilization of their back yards through rotational manuring in the study area. The dung/compost is used to fertilize the crop land.

Feeding calendar

This study showed that there was extreme feed shortage during the months October to January. Although crop residues are available, their utilization is limited due to poor quality, and the experience of feed quality enhancement through value addition with various technologies was poor. Although farmers store crop residues for dry season, the way of storage is not generally appropriate. Silage making is not known in the area and hay making is not practiced.

Feed related constraint

The main feed related constraints prevailing in the study area were low productivity of natural pasture, shortage of feed, overstocking and disease. The reported feed related constraints in this study are consistent with the reports of Belete (2006) in Fogera district and Asaminew (2007) in Mecha and Bahir Dar Zuria districts. The dominant crop residues in the study area were enset leaf and the by-products of its processing, maize stovers, teff straw, banana residue and wheat straw. The majority of the respondents practice storing feed for times of feed shortage. There were no respondents who exercise urea treatment. To overcome the seasonal shortage of feed, the respondents practice various coping mechanisms like storage of crop residues and supplementation with enset leaf, sugarcane and enset corm. Furthermore, agro-industrial by-products and improved forage supplementations are practiced by few respondents especially those who own crossbred cows in Bona town.

Cattle housing practice

Most farmers house their cattle in the dry as well as wet seasons. This practice is in agreement with the results of Belete (2006) in Fogera district. The purposes of housing in the study areas are to protect cattle from theft and from extreme weather conditions. With regard to housing of crossbred cattle, most of the milk producers keep their cattle in separate house. This finding is in line with the finding of Asaminew (2007) at Mecha and Bahir Dar Zuria district.

Reproductive and productive performance of cows

The average ages at first service (AFS) reported for local Zebu heifers (44 months) in this study is similar with what Gidey (2001) reported  for  Fogera  heifers (44+8 months) at Andassa Livestock Research Centre, while the reported result (26.98 months) for crossbred heifers is found to be less (35.7 ± 0.4).

The age at first calving (AFC) obtained in the present study for both local and crossbred cows is shorter than the result reported by Asaminew (2007) that the average age at first calving for the local cows was 57.12 months whereas the average age at first calving for crossbred cows was 37.6 months in Bahir Dar Zuria district. Average AFC obtained in the current study is shorter than the finding of Fisseha (2009) who reported an AFC of 43.13 ± 1.7 months for Holstein Frisian cows in Alage.   The AFC obtained in this study for local zebus is almost similar to that reported by Mukasa-Mugerwa et al. (1989) for local zebus (53.0 months) but is less than the AFC reported by Gidey (2001) for Fogera cows (54.6 months). The result depicted for crossbred cows (36.98 months) was higher than that reported by Albero (1983) for Fresian × Zebu cows (29.1 months). This variation might be due to the difference in the level of management and other inputs as this figure is an on-farm finding in contrast to that of Albero (1983).

The reported average number of services per conception (NSC) of local and crossbred cows was 1.85 and 2, respectively. According to Mukassa-Mugerwa (1989), cows with NSC greater than two are regarded as poor. However, the higher NSC in crossbred cows (2) might be attributed to the low efficacy of AI services for various reported reasons, like lack of skilled AI technician, non-synchronization of heat and insemination and lack of effective frozen semen in the district.

The reported calving interval (CI) in this study are almost similar to the estimates reported by Mukassa-Mugrewa et al. (1989) (25 months) in zebu cattle. The CI of the current study is much higher than the value reported by McDowell (1971) for Horro breed (12.2 months) and Swensson et al. (1981) for Arsi breed (12.9 months), but lower than the value reported by Gidey (2001) for Fogera breed (18.6 months) and higher than that reported by Goshu (1981) for Barka breed (11.8 months).

The lactation length in the current study was higher than the average lactation length of local cows (7.29 months) at Meiso district (Kedija, 2008). The lactation length of the indigenous cows observed in this study is higher than the national average (7 months) (CSA, 2005), while the lactation length in crossbred cows observed in this study is slightly shorter than the lactation length of 11.7 months reported for crossbred cows in the Central Highlands of Ethiopia (Zelalem and Ledin, 2001). The overall mean milk yields per cow per day of local cows were 1.65 L. This result is higher than the average milk yield per cow per day (1.24 litres) of local cows in Meiso district of Oromia Regional State (Kedija, 2008). In general, the higher average daily milk yield per cow and the variation in lactation length in the present study might be attributed to the difference in agro-ecology, nature of research (on-farm and on-station)  and  breed  of animals characterized.

Breeds and breeding methods

The current study showed that both natural mating and AI are practiced in the study area. With respect to natural mating, bulls can be used for either free mating or controlled mating. In controlled mating systems, heat detection and timing of service were carried out by the farmers and each cow was mated once or twice during each heat period. During the breeding season some farmers breed their cows and heifers with superior bulls owned by themselves or their neighbors. Most of the farmers bred their cows with any bull available in the herd when their cows come to heat. The use of unselected bulls could have negative implication on productivity of the herd and disease transmission such as brucellosis. The majority of the respondents prefer natural mating to AI because they believe that AI has high chance of resulting in the birth of male calves, and natural (bull) service has high probability of conception.

Major disease of cattle

The major reported cattle diseases prevailing in the study area are in line with the finding of Asaminew (2007) at Mecha and Bahir Dar Zuria district. According to animal health technicians, the occurrence of these diseases was serious in the district. On average, farmers travel about 2 km and a maximum of 5 km to get to an animal health centre. A milk producer on average spends about 4.85 ETB per head for control of ecto-parasites such as ticks.

The average cost per head for controlling endo-parasites was about 2.68 ETB per head. The major veterinary services delivery reported in this study agreed with the finding of Adebabay (2009) at Bure district.

Milk and butter marketing constraints

There is a number of highlighted constraints that hamper further development of milk sector in Bona district. Given the current production level the milk producers in the study area had market problems. In this case, the less possibilities of improved milk production technology, under developed milk market and absolute absence of milk processing plants in the area might have contributed to problems currently prevailing in the study area. The seasonal fluctuation in demand of milk product was found to be the major bottleneck in both milk production and marketing in the study area. Milk producing households also reported that seasonality of demand and supply of milk was one of their vital problems in milk production and marketing. With regard to marketing of milk products in the studied district, distance to marketing points, lack of   training    related   to   milk   product   marketing   and adulteration of milk with water and butter were considered as a problem. This result is similar to the findings of Sintayehu et al. (2008) in Shashemane, Dilla area of Southern Ethiopia. In the same work, it was stated that for the seasonality in demand for milk and milk products, processing technologies, which could extend the shelf life of milk products, might resolve the problem. For potential milk areas, where there is no market access, a milk collection scheme through establishment of milk marketing groups may alleviate the problem. Moreover, market-oriented milk extension trainings that cover a wide range of marketing and socio-economic issues should be provided to extension officers to enable them link these skills and knowledge to efficient production through improving farmer’s access, understanding and utilization of market in formation. This finding is similar with the finding of Adebabay (2009) at Bure district.

The study showed that dairy production is the dominant production system compared to other livestock productions in the study area. However, milk production and reproduction performance of dairy cattle was very low. Shortage of feed resources, poor breeding and reproductive management, diseases, undeveloped marketing systems and lack of awareness on improved production and marketing technologies are the major challenges limited dairy production. Therefore, coordinated efforts are required to address the constraints through technological innovations across the different stages of the value chain.

The authors have not declared any conflict of interests.

The authors acknowledge the Livestock and Irrigation Value Chain for Ethiopian Small Holder (LIVES) project of the International Livestock Research Institution for financial support of this research work. Their appreciation also goes to private dairy farm owners and data collectors.