
09/03/2023
Dairy production is one of the major sustenance factors for the rural economy of Ethiopia. Ethiopia holds large potential for dairy development due to its large livestock population, which comprises 59.5 million cattle, 30.70 million sheep, and 30.20 million goat populations . Given considerable potential for smallholder income and employment generation from high-value dairy products, development of the dairy sector in Ethiopia can contribute significantly to poverty alleviation and nutrition in the country. Different classifications have been used to characterize the dairy production system in the country. Based on their locations classified into three broad categories; namely, urban, periurban and rural dairy production system. Among the existing production systems, the traditional dairy production system is the one involving from smallholder dairy farms. The traditional (smallholder) milk production system, which is dominated by indigenous breeds, accounts for about 97-98% of the total annual milk production in the country . Over 85% of the milk produced by rural household is consumed within the producer households with the proportion marketed being less than 7% . The small amount of milk produced by a large number of producers but the low marketable output in Ethiopia possess limitations on the possibilities of exploiting distant but rewarding markets due to high opportunity costs of labor involved
As dairy production in Ethiopia is constrained by several factors classified as: Technical or biological, socio-economic and institutional factors and others some of the major environmental constraints such as low rainfall, high temperature and low forage production, common plant association, livestock and human carrying capacity, incidence of important livestock diseases and parasites, mainly define in the lowland part of Ethiopia . There are a number of challenges and bottlenecks limiting the success and profitability of household dairy production systems in Ethiopia. Therefore, a comprehensive literature review on the current status of dairy production system in the country seems to be appealing. There is a need for reviewing the production system, production performance and constraints of household dairy production. Moreover, information’s on either weak sides or the success stories of household dairy production including its marketing and constraints could be used by beneficiaries. It is a major contributing factor to the livelihood of resource poor subsistence farmers in a number of ways: income from milk and milk products, insurance against draught, emergency cash requirements, household nutrition, fuel for cooking, manure for crops, draught power for farming etc. Therefore, the objective of this review is to assess the current dairy production system in Ethiopia and future prospects.