A survey on live- stock and milk production characteristics of peri-urban agropastoral dairying in Ghana

Abstract

A survey was conducted in five districts on the Accra plains to characterize the peri-urban dairy system. Results from the survey indicated that sale of milk (fresh or processed) by farmers as well as the amount marketed varied according to districts. A high percentage of farmers in Ga Rural (82.4 per cent), Tema (85.7 per cent), and Ewutu-Effutu-Senya (91 percent) districts which are close to marketing centres mainly sold fresh milk, while farmers in the North Tongu and Dangbe West districts farther away from marketing centres mainly sold processed milk, 76.2 and 66.7 per cent, respectively. Consumption of processed milk by farmers in the various districts was significantly (P<0.05) different, but not the consumption of fresh. milk. Consumption of processed milk by farmers in the Dangbe West and the North Tongu districts was high, over 70 per cent, while in the remaining districts the percentages were lower, 57.1 per cent for Tema, 37.5 percent for Awutu-Effutu-Senya, and 23 per cent for Ga Rural. There was no significant association between fresh or processed milk consumed at home and the ethnic group of household head.



Ghana Jnl.agric. Sci Vol.32(1), 1999: 39-46