Household level Milk Production and Child Milk Consumption In and Around Bahir dar, Ethiopia

No Thumbnail Available

Date

2014-06

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Addis Ababauniversity

Abstract

Malnutrition is a serious problem in 1-5 years old children of Ethiopia and livestock products have a contribution in solving malnutrition. This study was conducted in and around Bahir Dar with the objectives of investigating the contribution of cow ownership and milk production to child milk consumption; assessing constraints in cow milk production and child milk consumption; and assessing the quality of cow milk consumed by children at household level. Cross- sectional study design was employed. A total of 300 households were individually interviewed. The results indicated a positive relationship between dairy cow ownership and child milk consumption. A child in a household with dairy cow consumes 464.9 ml of milk while in a household without dairy cow consumes 457.5ml of milk. Among households with dairy cow and without dairy cow larger volume of milk offer was observed in the periurban (512.8ml) and urban areas (465.7ml), respectively as compared with the rest. In terms of child milk feeding practice, higher practice of child milk feeding was obtained in the urban households with 39% and without 60.7% dairy cow. The major constraint of child milk consumption across households with and without dairy cows was selling of milk for income generation and lack of knowledge; and shortage of money and cultural issues, respectively. Coliform and standard plate counts in the urban, peri-urban and rural areas were 4.7X103 and 104, 3.1X104 and4.6X104, 2.2X105 and 5X105, respectively. The overall result of adulteration and acidity were 26.11 and 0.21, in CFU respectively. The general hygienic practice followed by households with dairy cows in the area is poor. Feed shortage is the biggest problem for all the study sites, whereas shortage of land is a priority problem for urban and peri-urban dairy owners and lack of improved breeds is a priority problem for the rural farmers. Reduction of milk production and quality affects child milk consumption. Therefore, further research works to address constraints and to improve child milk consumption are imperative. Key words: Bahir Dar, Child milk consumption, Milk production, Milk quality, Dairy cow ownership

Description

Keywords

Bahir Dar, Child milk consumption, Milk production, Milk quality, Dairy cow ownership

Citation