Assessing information sharing strategies to address milk losses among dairy farmers in per-urban Bamako, Mali

Abstract

Information Communication Technologies (ICT) have been used as one of the intervention strategies in the reduction of loss along the agricultural value chains in the developing countries. ICT has been used in Malian agriculture in general as an intervention strategy to acquire information in agriculture sector, but not necessarily in dairy sector alone. In recent years, there has been an improvement in the dairy sector due to the development of peri-urban dairy farming. This has resulted in the intensification of milk production around the peri-urban because of information on improved breeds and access to feeds. The peri-urban dairy farming is still experiencing many challenges such as lack of market information, poor infrastructure and no proper processing resulting into losses. The objective of this study was to assess the information sharing strategies to address milk losses among dairy farmers in peri-urban of Bamako. Data was obtained through structured questionnaires and interviews. Multiple-stage sampling procedure was used to select the respondents (n=171). Data was analysed using SPSS software version 20. The study found that sources of milk losses, spillage and spoilage, were significant a 1% at both cooperative and farm levels. The spoilage was the major cause of loss. The most common information sharing pathway used by dairy farmers was the mobile phone with 93% at the farm and 71% at the cooperative. The cooperative was the most frequent source of information. The most sought types of information by farmers were feed at 42%, animal health at 14% and cooperative issues at 13%. The mobile phone was found to be suitable information sharing pathway that can contribute towards reducing milk losses among dairy farmers. In order to reduce milk losses, the study recommended putting more efforts in good handling practice and investment in dairy sectors. Similarly, capacity building of farmers and cooperative members and workers should be enforced for efficient information sharing. A suitable mobile application should be developed for better information flow among farmers.