Therefore, the study aims to investigate the contribution of the guarantee scheme for dairy products to the food security of households. The contribution of the dairy loan scheme to local milk production and household food security remains an open question.
The statement of the research problem
The specific aim of the scheme was to improve local milk production and household food security through the consumption and sale of milk and the provision of rural employment (Mavuso, 2005). Sub-problem four: Did extension services contribute to the success of the milk credit scheme.
Study limits
Assumptions of the study
Structure of the mini-dissertation
The combination of these factors, especially in Africa, undermines the potential of many countries to achieve food security (Okalebo et al., 2007). The chapter argues that milk production schemes in particular can contribute to household food security and promote economic development.
The food security situation in the world
The prevalence of food insecurity in Africa
More than 90% of the world's children are disabled, children whose height is short for age and live in Africa and Asia (Grebmer et al., 2010). Protein and energy malnutrition is common among children under five; children aged six to nine and women in the reproductive age groups (25-40 years).
Overcoming the state of food insecurity in Africa
In addition, the World Bank has noted that the international agricultural economy and its markets do not accept smallholder farmers (Mooney and Hunt, 2009). Therefore, livestock projects can have lasting results in the health and social development of poor households (Walingo, 2009).
The contribution of livestock production to livelihoods in developing countries
Moreover, dairy production has greater status in society than other forms of livestock production (Kabumbuli and Phelan, 2003; Kristjanson et al., 2010). Dairy production contributes to food security, rural development through job creation and reduces poverty (Kabumbuli and Phelan, 2003; Misra et al., 2009; Walingo, 2009).
The contribution of dairy credit schemes to household food security and dairy development
However, the heifer approach has improved milk production in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and other countries where it has been adopted (Kabumbuli and Phelan, 2003; Mwakalile et al., 2002). Successive governments began to introduce another form of the heifer approach known as Heifer in Trust (Kabumbuli and Phelan, 2003; Mwakalile et al., 2002).
The socio-economic and nutritional contribution of milk to household food security
Countries such as Kenya and Uganda, for example, have attempted to develop their dairy market from within (Mwakalile et al., 2002) by establishing milk collection centers to facilitate distribution and processing of milk. In both urban and semi-urban areas, there was high demand for the processed dairy products and farmers earned more money from dairy in these areas (Minjauw and McLeod, 2003; Mwakalile et al., 2002).
Overview of the dairy industry in Swaziland
Matshe (2009) attributed this decline in sub-Saharan Africa to increased milk consumption and improved dietary intake. Likewise, dairy production has contributed to the struggle of malnutrition in the lives of many people in Swaziland, especially in rural areas, although the performance of the dairy sector at the national level is not convincing. Furthermore, high imports of dairy products raise questions about the contribution of the dairy sector to household food security, especially among the 76% of the population in rural areas who account for 86.2% of dairy farmers in Swaziland (Mavuso , 2005; NEPAD/FAO, 2005).
Country background
In an attempt to understand the Swazi dairy industry and its development, this chapter is divided into seven main sections, namely country background, description of the dairy production system by land tenure types in Swaziland, milk production and marketing systems, the contribution of dairy. and other sweeps to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Swaziland, the organizational structure of the Swazi dairy industry, limitations in milk production, and the SDDB and its functions.
Dairy production and marketing by land turner system
The ideal of the Swazi smallholder dairy production system is that each farmer should have at least one hectare of planted pasture per dairy cow. This can be attributed to a number of factors, including farmers leaving dairy farming in some parts of the country. In 1996, the FAO reported that 60% of the milk consumed in Swaziland came from neighboring countries.
The contribution of livestock including dairy to the Gross Domestic Product in Swaziland
At this stage, it is important to look at the interaction between the key players in the sector to understand the organization of the Swazi dairy industry.
The organisational structure of the Swazi dairy industry
The direct distribution of milk to rural consumers by farmers poses a major risk to the public, as most farmers sell unpasteurized milk, which can endanger public safety. It is also not good for the development of the dairy industry as a whole, because it creates unfair competition for processors, since they are also supplied with milk by the same farmers who compete with them on the market (Figure 2.1). This suggests the need for a robust comprehensive dairy policy to create a level playing field for all actors in the Swazi dairy industry.
Constraints faced by the dairy farmers in Swaziland
Due to these and other related factors, the Swazi dairy industry remained underdeveloped for a long time (Malima, 2005). The performance of the dairy sector continues to decline, despite the fact that the government has established the SDDB to specifically transform the dairy industry. This raises questions about the effectiveness and capacity of the SDDB to develop the dairy industry.
Swaziland dairy development Board
These problems have contributed to the underdevelopment of the dairy sector in many developing countries, although each country has its own specific constraints. This section presented an overview of the Swazi dairy industry in terms of production systems, local milk production and import volumes, milk marketing channels, actors in the dairy industry and the challenges faced by local milk producers. This section represents that local milk production has not increased to meet the local demand for milk and milk products.
The description of the joint venture dairy credit scheme between Swaziland Dairy Development Board and Swaziland Development Finance
Access to credit would help poor farmers to access dairy cows with good genetic makeup and purchase agricultural inputs and milk cooling facilities that would increase the shelf life of milk and encourage farmer groups to pool milk through the establishment of collection centers.
The importance of the dairy credit scheme
A group consisted of 10 people and above, and they were expected to be registered and legally recognized. SDDB was expected to offer extension services and FINCORP was expected to disburse and ensure loan recovery from the beneficiaries. Be a farmer whose dairy business complies with all legal, regulatory, licensing and other registration formalities required by Swazi law.
Resource assessment exercise
The farmers who were interested in participating in the credit scheme had to indicate this by visiting the offices of SDDB for an oral interview. The interview verified the farmers' potential to handle dairy projects, in terms of resources they had.
Loan acquisition, disbursement and sourcing of dairy cows
Livestock and other related schemes usually benefit the implementers (project facilitators) as the target poor people (Obamuyi, 2009). Projects are often not implemented according to plan, which makes monitoring and evaluation difficult. Nevertheless, evaluation is important to generate quality and relevant information on the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of schemes to inform policy makers and project financiers (Obamuyi, 2009).
Measurement of food security
Although livestock schemes contribute to improving household food security, measuring their impact has been difficult because they have often been used as a vote-gathering tool, especially when implemented by the government (Kabumbuli and Phelan, 2003; Obamuyi, 2009). ).
Methodology
Data collection
The Food Consumption Scores (FCS) were calculated based on the eight food groups (cereals and tubers, legumes, vegetables, fruit, meat and fish, milk, sugar and spices) and subjected to the adjusted thresholds as set out in Table 3.2. The threshold values had to be adjusted according to the World Food Program (WFP) procedure because households had consumed sugar and oil almost daily for the past seven days (WFP, 2009). The basic thresholds have been increased by adding seven points under the WFP procedure to take into account daily consumption of oil and sugar, which adds seven points to the FCS, as illustrated in Tables 3.2.
Data analysis and treatment
This chapter begins by describing the demographic and geographic distribution characteristics of the beneficiaries as presented in Tables 4.1 and 4.2. The education level of the beneficiaries and the characteristics of their household composition are shown in Tables 4.3 and 4.4. The beneficiaries (56.7%) had attained tertiary level of education which was an added benefit to the success of the dairy scheme.
The contribution of the dairy credit scheme to milk production and income The results of the survey indicate that the 30 beneficiaries received 101 dairy cows
The highest average milk production from 2006 to 2009 was noted in household five at 18328ℓ milk from six cows. However, there was no significant difference in milk production between household 12 and the households that owned between one and four cows. This implies that the aim of the dairy scheme to improve local milk production has been partially achieved.
Improvement of milk consumption and dietary diversity
Statistical associations were conducted to determine the relationship between level of consumption, household size, ownership of dairy cows and frequency of milk consumption and the results are shown in Table 4.10. Therefore, it is not an anomaly that the SDDB and FINCORP dairy scheme did not increase the frequency of milk consumption, but at least improved the level of consumption as indicated in Table 4.10. This implies that dairy households had better access to milk, leading to improved milk consumption and income through milk sales.
The contribution of the dairy production scheme to the socio-economic status and livelihoods of the beneficiary households
The dairy credit scheme enabled some of the households to accumulate agricultural and production assets between 2006 and 2009 as shown in Table 4.13. The beneficiaries were asked to rank the extension services in order of importance to the support and success of the dairy credit scheme. Therefore, the dairy credit scheme has partially contributed to local milk production and increased the purchasing power of the beneficiary households.
Conclusions
This means that households became more resilient to shocks than they were before they started producing dairy. Follow-up extension services were carried out to ensure that the beneficiaries were more efficient in their dairy activities. Households were asked to rank the effectiveness of both SDDB and MOAC in terms of delivery of extension services by scale.
Recommendations
Finally, the milk was sold through the informal market, posing a threat to public health and depriving beneficiaries of a reliable guaranteed market for their products and profits.
Policy related recommendations
There is a need to multiply the dairy production schemes at the community level in the regions to promote regional credit accessibility and loan recovery. This requires a comprehensive dairy development policy that will integrate the development partners and coordinate the dairy activities. This will help the small farmers to be effective and efficient in the dairy production activities and lead to the improvement of the household livelihood and total transformation of the dairy sector.
Recommendations for further research and improvement of the study
The role of education in agricultural projects for food security and poverty reduction in Kenya. The role of livestock projects in empowering women smallholder farmers for sustainable food security in rural Kenya. Validation of the World Food Program food consumption score and alternative indicators for household food security.
Appendix: Analysis of variance table
Appendix : Survey questionnaire
Demographic information
Did you have any trip to a dairy farm. d) Were there demonstrations on your farm either by the SDDB or the government. If in arrears, how long is the arrears (in months). f) If you do not repay, through the dairy project, State how you repay. e) When was your first installment. Did you have the following items in place for the dairy cows? a) Resource assessment was carried out: Yes No (b) Milking barn was built: Yes No No c ) Pasture was established: Yes No (d) Crushing path was built Yes No (e) Dipping authority acquired: Yes No (f) Water was developed and was reliable: Yes No. 10) Implementation of the dairy project in the past five years.
