Empowering small scale dairy farmers through the co-operatives model.

Abstract

The co-operative model is considered to be an essential means to empower small scale farmers in the process of improving food security. Despite the extensive literature, the specific question about how co-operatives facilitate the process of enabling small scale farmers including dairy farmers lack empirical evidence. This study used two dairy co-operatives, i.e., Nronga and Kalali Dairy Co-operatives which are in Hai District in Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, to learn the roles of co-operatives in eliminating market failure and reducing the costs in empowering small scale dairy farmers. The data were collected from 387 members of the two co-operatives. The quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics while the qualitative data were analysed using content analysis method. The results show that the co-operatives are beneficial to the small scale farmers in terms of cutting down costs and ensuring market efficiency. However, the effectiveness of co-operatives remained at risk because the concept of dairy farming and commercialized agriculture as a whole is yet to be fully sold to the smallholder farmers. Therefore, the levels of Government support and partnership with companies regarding training and other capacity-building exercises, provision of extension services and raising awareness levels in dairy farming and other best practices are required to improve understanding among farmers and improving co-operatives to ensure sustainable growth of small scale farmers.