Determinants and causes of postharvest milk losses among milk producers in Nyandarua North subcounty, Kenya

ABSTRACT Nyandarua County has enormous milk production potential and has a large amount of milk, because of large a population of dairy cows coupled with the huge milk market demand from within and without. Despite this potential, milk postharvest losses have posed a major challenge to the dairy sector in the county. The general objective of the current study was to establish causes of losses among milk producers, as well as factors that contribute to the choice of a milk-marketing channel. A total of 188 milk producers were selected through proportionate to size sampling from Nyandarua North subcounty, including the formal and informal milk value chains. A statistical analysis, as well as a quantitative analysis was done with the help of Microsoft Excel, STATA and SPSS Ver. 21. The first step Heckman results indicate that age of household head, gender of household head, education level, breed type, total milk output, feeding system, keeping of records and type of milk container significantly influenced the choice of milk-marketing channel. The second step Heckman results suggest that dairy farming experience, distance to milk collection point, type of breed, total milk output, use of detergent to clean milk containers, feeding system and keeping of production records were significant as far as causes of milk losses among milk producers was concerned. Based on the results of the current study, it is recommended that policy implementers and dairy stakeholders should prioritise efforts to minimise postharvest milk losses considering that the implications of these losses directly affect the economic wellbeing and livelihood of farmers and other dairy chain participants. Milk-marketing channels, both formal and informal, need to be re-evaluated based on returns and convenience with emphasis on proper postharvest milk management and handling. This will reduce on the losses and additional cost incurred by milk producers and transporters resulting to higher economic returns for the respective chain participants in the dairy value chain.