Socio-economic aspects of smallholder dairying in Zimbabwe

摘要

FocusonagriculturaldevelopmentinSub-SaharanAfricahasseenashifttowardsthesmallholdersectorwhichishomeandemploymentprovidertomorethan70percentofthepopulation.However,on-the-groundrealitiesandtheviabilitystatusofenterpriseswithinthissectorremainlargelyun-probedresearchareas.Thisarticle,whichisbasedoncasestudiesofthreedairydevelopmentprojectsinZimbabwe,presentsresultsofasocio-economicanalysisoftherealstate,constraintsandopportunitiesvisàvistheperformanceofthesmallholderdairysector.ThroughaGrossMarginAnalysisatfarmlevel,thestudyestablishedthatsmallholderdairyinginZimbabweishardlyviable.Identifiedconstraintstoproductionincludelabourbottlenecks,aninadequatefeedbase,poorbreedingpracticesandproductioninefficiencies.However,problemsarisingfromlimitedmarkets,narrowproductbases,recurrentdroughtsandstringenteconomicreformshavehadmoredevastatingeffectsonviabilityinthesmallholderdairysector.Establishedopportunitiesforimprovementincludetheproductionandutilizationofhome-grownfeeds,appropriatemechanization,useofacontrolledandwelltargetedbreedingprogramme,aimingateconomicandefficientproduction,aswellasthere-integrationoftechnicalandsocio-economicissuesinruraldevelopmentprogrammesinordertoachievesustainedruraldevelopment.