Review on the Role of Dairy Cooperative in Market Oriented Development in Ethiopia

Abstract

The review is initiated with the objective of assessing the role of dairy cooperatives in market oriented smallholders’ development. For an agriculturally dependent country like Ethiopia, this review is important to know the role of dairy cooperatives in market oriented smallholders’ development. Dairy development has enormous scope for rural development and national prosperity. Dairy cooperatives are needed to consolidate the efforts of small producers to provide processing and transport facilities on a large scale. Organizing farmers through dairy co-operatives can have many advantages over individual farming. First, co-operatives can improve or facilitate access to market information, reduce costs of marketing and can increase producers’ access to technology, extension and related services, and thereby enhance efficiency in the process of production and marketing of dairy products. Second, dairy marketing co-operatives can help to decrease transaction costs and price risks, and enhance bargaining power of dairy producers. And explore the role of dairy cooperatives in market oriented smallholders’ development. It entails the specific objectives of investigating the role of the cooperative in promoting linkages for access to services and marketing and enhancing knowledge and information sharing. The cooperative had many activities include: provision of dairy inputs, marketing, creating employment opportunities, having well designed organizational and financial systems and addressing development issues. Organizationally there was weak interaction among members and board members of the cooperative. The cooperative is performing good in promoting market oriented dairy development through creating market link to the urban and per-urban subsystems, collaborating with other dairy associations, public organizations, NGOs, projects and donors affiliated on MODD.

Keywords: Dairy cooperatives, marketing, small holders, Ethiopia