Abstract
The dairy sector offers enormous scope for economic growth and poverty alleviation. A very high proportion (97%) of the milk produced goes to consumers through traditional value chains. These chains are a dominating link between millions of farmers and consumers. Development strategies, however, have not been able to tap the pro-poor potential that these chains offer, targeting instead high profile processors. These large scale processors service only the most accessible and larger farmers without considering the predominant population of small-holder farmers: in effect they are only interested in economies of scale. The study reported in this paper will describe the key attributes of traditional chains and then highlight the opportunities and risks associated with their evolution and their potential to assist the profitability of farmers contributing milk to them. The chains are characterized by the collection of milk on farm and then selling this to a primary milk vendor or dhodi. The milk is then on sold to 2-3 larger milk vendors in a chain who collect and then transport the milk to commercial retail outlets in large urban centres. During these processes of transfer milk may be adulterated and diluted to ensure that each vendor is able to make a profit from their transactions. Milk is also sold either by volume or by weight: since the density of milk is greater than that of water there is a small incremental profit that accumulates with these transactions. The volumes of vessels used for the assessment of payments are also not standardized. In essence the farmer is rarely accorded full payment for this product, which is often of poor quality once marketed.However importantly each of the vendors provides loans to those one step further up the chain, thereby enabling each member to survive financially. The farmers receive cash advances for their product to enable them to continue to purchase resources required to feed and care for the animals. Thus the flow of product in one direction to market and the flow of cash in the form of loans in the other direction are equally significant to the sustainability of these chains.
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | 15th AAAP Animal Science Congress |
Editors | S. Koonawootrittriron, T. Suwanasopee, T. Jaichansukkit, D. Jattawa, K. Boonyanuwat, P. Skunmun |
Place of Publication | Bangkok, Thailand |
Publisher | The Animal Husbandry Asssociation of Thailand (AHAT) |
Pages | 1404-1407 |
Number of pages | 4 |
Publication status | Published - 2012 |
Event | The Asian-Australian Association of Animal Production Societies (AAAP) Animal Science Congress - Thammasart University (Rangsit Campus), Bangkok, Thailand Duration: 26 Nov 2012 → 30 Nov 2012 |
Conference
Conference | The Asian-Australian Association of Animal Production Societies (AAAP) Animal Science Congress |
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Country/Territory | Thailand |
City | Bangkok |
Period | 26/11/12 → 30/11/12 |